WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Departmental Mobile Phones

Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much has been spent on  (a) the purchase of and  (b) bills for (i) BlackBerrys and (ii) other mobile telephones for (A) Ministers, (B) special advisers and (C) civil servants in the Government Equalities Office in each year since its establishment.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. Since then there have been no purchases of BlackBerrys or mobile phones for Ministers or special advisers. Details of purchases of BlackBerrys and mobile phones for civil servants and the associated bills are provided in the following tables:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Purchases  Bills 
			  2007-08 (October to March)   
			 BlackBerrys 1,434 (1)0 
			 Mobile Phones 504 (1)108 
			 Total 1,938 108 
			
			  2008-09   
			 BlackBerrys 2,168 — 
			 Mobile Phones 204 — 
			 Total 2,372 (2)4,030 
			 (1) Purchases of mobile handsets were made towards the end of the financial year therefore payment of bills did not commence until April/May 2008. Some bill payments were made to owners of existing mobile handsets. (2) All bills are grouped together on to one monthly invoice which makes it difficult to separate individual charges for BlackBerrys and mobiles.

CABINET OFFICE

10 Downing Street

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 581-82W, on 10 Downing Street, how many Downing Street-branded wallets have been sold by the gift shop in the last 18 months or nearest equivalent period for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: I have nothing further to add to the earlier answer.

Breast Cancer: Males

James Duddridge: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many men have died from breast cancer in each year since 2005.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many men have died from breast cancer in each year since 2005. (282926)
	The table attached provides the number of deaths where breast cancer was the underlying cause of death, for males in England and Wales from 2005 to 2008.
	
		
			  Table 1:  Number of deaths where breast cancer was the underlying cause of death,( 1)  males, England and Wales,( 2)  2005-08( 3, 4) 
			   Male  deaths 
			 2005 82 
			 2006 69 
			 2007 87 
			 2008 62 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the international Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C50.  (2) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents.  (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.  (4) Figures for deaths registered in 2008 are provisional.

Capacitybuilders: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what funding Capacitybuilders has provided to charitable organisations active in Tamworth constituency in the last 12 months.

Angela Smith: There have been no direct awards from Capacitybuilders to charitable organisations active in Tamworth in the last 12 months. However, Capacitybuilders have made two awards to the Staffordshire Consortium, one of whose members is the Tamworth Council for Voluntary Service, which will benefit from this funding. The first award was a Consortium Development grant of £52,000 in 2008-09. The second was a modernisation programme grant of £41,596 in 2008-09 to ensure common standards and access across the nine volunteer centres in the district, which is work being led by Tamworth CVS.

Departmental Billing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2009,  Official Report, column 835W, on departmental billing, how much her Department's non-departmental public bodies paid in interest to suppliers under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years.

Angela Smith: The Office of the Third Sector in Cabinet Office sponsors two executive non-departmental public bodies—Capacitybuilders and the Commission for the Compact.
	Capacitybuilders was formally established in April 2006 and the Commission for the Compact in November 2007.
	No payments under the Late Payments of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 have been made by the Commission for the Compact since its establishment. Capacitybuilders have made interest payments to one supplier totalling £64.94 over the last three financial years.

Futurebuilders: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many loans of each type have been provided by the Futurebuilders programme in Tamworth constituency since the scheme began.

Angela Smith: To date, Futurebuilders England has not invested in Tamworth. However, more widely, Futurebuilders has invested over £4 million in 16 organisations in the west midlands.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Merseyside

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in  (a) Merseyside and  (b) Crosby received JSA in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for what average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in (a) Merseyside and (b) Crosby Point received JSA in each of the last five years. (282532)
	The number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) is taken from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. The length of a claim has been defined as the time between the start of an individual's claim and that claim ending. Table 1 shows the median length of completed claims during the May count period of the last 5 years.
	
		
			  Table 1. Median length of completed claims (off-flows) of jobseeker ' s allowance for claimants resident in Merseyside and Crosby parliamentary constituency 
			  Months 
			  As at May each year  Merseyside  Crosby 
			 2005 12.8 12.0 
			 2006 12.1 12.3 
			 2007 12.4 13.5 
			 2008 11.4 10.6 
			 2009 11.8 11.1 
			  Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative system

Unemployment: South Yorkshire

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the unemployment rate among the working age population in  (a) Barnsley,  (b) Doncaster and  (c) South Yorkshire was in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the unemployment rate among the working age population in  (a) Barnsley,  (b) Doncaster and  (c) South Yorkshire was in each of the last five years. (282792)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and unemployment statistics for unitary and local authorities from a statistical model, following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
	Table I shows the unemployment rate for people resident in Barnsley, Doncaster and South Yorkshire in each of the last five years. The latest period for which data are available is October 2007 to September 2008. Unemployment rates are normally provided for people aged 16 and over, rather than people of working age, thus estimates provided are consistent with this definition.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment and unemployment are available from the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			  Table 1. Unemployment rates( 1)  for people resident in Barnsley, Doncaster and South Yorkshire 
			   Unemployment rate (percentage) 
			  12-month period  Barnsley( 2)  Doncaster( 2)  South Yorkshire 
			 January to December 2004 4.5 4.8 5.4 
			 January to December 2005 4.9 5.2 5.2 
			 January to December 2006 5.9 6.1 7.1 
			 January to December 2007 5.7 6.1 5.8 
			 October 2007 to September 2008 6.4 6.9 6.9 
			 (1 )Number of unemployed people aged 16 and over as a percentage of the economically active population.  (2) Model based estimates.   Source:  Annual Population Survey and Model Based Estimates.

OLYMPICS

Olympic Games 2012: Construction

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what plans she has to encourage construction companies on the Olympic site to use waterborne freight.

Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) encourages all contractors to use the waterways, where possible, to transport materials. The ODA's work to open up navigable waterways will actively encourage contractors to employ sustainable transport methods at every opportunity.
	Contractors are also embracing this challenge, for example, Team Stadium (the consortium constructing the Olympic Stadium) is building offloading facilities near the stadium to enable movement of materials by water. Two of the ODA's other tier 1 contractors, Veolia Environmental Services and Aggregate Industries, have also committed to using the waterways to transport materials in and waste out. Veolia Environmental Services, the site waste management contractor, is expected to have the first barge carrying waste out of the park in late June following the opening of Three Mills Lock (formerly known as Prescott Lock).
	The target set out in the Sustainable Development Strategy published in 2007 stated that 50 per cent. of materials (by weight) would be transported by rail or water. Figures published in April show that the ODA is already achieving 57 per cent. of deliveries by rail alone.
	The ODA also continues to work closely with British Waterways, Transport for London, the Department for Transport and the Port of London authority to create and promote opportunities to transport materials by water.

Olympic Games 2012: Construction

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether construction companies working on the Olympic site have clauses within their contracts to encourage waterborne freight.

Tessa Jowell: While there is no specific requirement or clause in relation to the use of sustainable transportation methods, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) emphasises its commitment to sustainability throughout the procurement process, for example, by inviting prospective contractors to provide proposals to meet the ODA target of transporting 50 per cent. of construction materials (by weight) by sustainable means (rail and water).

Olympic Games 2012: Construction

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what estimate she has made of the proportion of  (a) goods and  (b) other materials which will be transported to the main Olympic site by water.

Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) delivery management system keeps a record by weight of all deliveries and removals to and from the Olympic Park. With the completion of dredging works, the regular use of the waterways is scheduled to commence around the end of this month. The proportion of sustainable deliveries by water will then be able to be calculated from Q3 2009 on a monthly basis.
	The target set out in the Sustainable Development Strategy published in 2007 stated that 50 per cent. of materials (by weight) would be transported by rail or water. Figures published in April show that the ODA is already achieving 57 per cent. of deliveries by rail alone.

Olympic Games 2012: Facilities

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her most recent estimate is of the cost of hosting the London 2012 Olympic sailing events at Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour.

Tessa Jowell: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has responsibility for staging the Olympic and Paralympic games including at existing venues.
	The enhanced facilities at Weymouth and Portland Harbour, completed in November 2008, are the first of the Olympic and Paralympic venues to be completed, and will have already delivered an early legacy of world-class facilities for elite athletes and the local community to use well ahead of 2012.
	These enhanced facilities were constructed by the Olympic Delivery Authority ahead of schedule and within the overall approved budget of £9.2 million.
	The direct costs associated with staging the events at Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour come from LOCOG's revenues which are primarily derived from commercial sponsorship, broadcast rights, ticket sales and merchandising/licensing—not from the public purse.
	There will be attributable costs to the public purse from London 2012 venues, including Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour. However, these costs such as in security and transport systems have not yet been identified separately for individual events and will form part of the overall security and transport budgets.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Sequestration

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what technologies are used for carbon capture and storage demonstration projects sponsored by his Department.

Joan Ruddock: The first carbon capture and storage demonstration competition project at commercial scale will involve post-combustion capture of CO2 from a coal-fired power station with offshore storage. Project selection for further commercial scale demonstrations will be against a number of criteria and these are set out in our consultation, "A Framework for the Development for Clean Coal", published on 17 June 2009. The Government would look to demonstrate a range of CCS technologies.
	The Government also supports component and pilot scale demonstration through the Environmental Transformation Fund, Carbon Abatement Technologies demonstration programme. To date one project that will demonstrate a 40 MW Oxy-fuel combustion system has received support.

Climate Change

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of his Department's potential gross  (a) costs and  (b) savings arising from its climate change adaptation measures in the next three years.

Joan Ruddock: It is not currently possible to provide estimates of the potential costs and savings over the next three years. It has, however, been shown in the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change that timely and well-targeted climate adaptation measures will yield benefits in excess of their costs. The main rationale for investment to address climate risk will be to reduce the UK's vulnerability to longer-term climate change impacts.
	The Government are undertaking a Climate Change Risk Assessment and Economic Analysis, which will provide estimates of the costs and benefits of adaptation to the UK. This analysis will be presented to Parliament within three years of the Climate Change Act coming into force.
	As the hon. Lady is aware, the Government will also be publishing supplementary appraisal guidance this summer. This will help to ensure that adaptation measures are designed and implemented in a cost-effective manner.

Departmental Billing

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many and what proportion of invoices his Department has paid within 10 days of receipt in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: The number and proportion of invoices paid within 10 days of receipt since the inception of the Department on 3 October 2008 are as follow:
	
		
			   Invoices 
			   Number  Percentage 
			 November 2008 388 73 
			 December 2008 568 88 
			
			 January 2009 657 98 
			 February 2009 571 99 
			 March 2009 709 96 
			 April 2009 606 98 
			 May 2009 725 97 
		
	
	The data for October 2008 are not available.

Departmental Co-ordination: Carbon Emissions

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much pooled funding is available to support cross-departmental co-operation on building a low carbon economy.

Joan Ruddock: Development of policy to support the building of a low carbon economy is the responsibility of a wide range of Departments and is funded through departmental budgets. While there is no pooled funding specifically to support cross-departmental co-operation, departments are working together on policies to support the move to a low carbon economy. On 23 April the Government published "Investing in a Low Carbon Britain" which sets out the Government's investment plans for the transition to a low carbon economy, as well as providing detail on new cross-departmental funding to provide targeted support in the low-carbon sector. The Government will also, later this summer, publish a low carbon industrial strategy which will set out the policy and investment framework for maximising the economic benefits of the transition to a low carbon economy.

Departmental Food

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what percentage of the  (a) meat,  (b) fruit and  (c) vegetables procured by his Department in the last 12 months was produced in the UK.

Joan Ruddock: A second report on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and HM Prison Service was published in November 2008, covering the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. This report and the first one covering the previous year can be found at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/awareness.htm
	The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat, fruit and vegetable categories purchased.
	Although it is too early to show a trend, the report indicates that the amount of domestically produced food consumed by Government Departments in England is increasing.
	DECC was established after the information in this report was collated, therefore the percentage of meat, fruit and vegetables procured domestically within the estate currently occupied by DECC is included within the information provided in the above report under DEFRA.
	A third report is expected to be published at the end of 2009.

Lighting: East of England

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding his Department has allocated to the encouragement of usage of compact fluorescent lamp variety light bulbs in  (a) Mid Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England since it was established; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: The Government have not allocated any funding specifically to the East of England to encourage the use of compact fluorescent lamp variety light bulbs (CFLs).

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to respond to the hon. Member for Billericay's letters of 13 March, 23 April and 25 May 2009 on his constituent Mr. A. Bridgen.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 18 June 2009
	I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member, and a reply from my noble colleague, Lord Hunt, will be issued shortly.

Plutonium

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2009,  Official Report, column 725W, on plutonium, if he will publish on his Department's website  (a) the minutes of the meeting on plutonium management held on 21 May 2009,  (b) the presentations made and  (c) the materials submitted by attendees for circulation at the meeting; and what further steps he intends to take in respect of plutonium management.

Joan Ruddock: A transcript of the meeting that includes the copies of presentations and material submitted by attendees will be published on the DECC website in early July. A summary report will also be published on the website at the same time.
	With respect to plutonium management, officials are considering the basis for a public consultation which would be expected to begin in the autumn.

Solar Power

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assistance his Department has provided to the solar photovoltaic industry since Budget 2009.

David Kidney: holding answer 18 June 2009
	Since the Budget of April 2009 we have allocated an additional £5 million to solar PV applications under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 2 bringing the total commitment to £31.5 million. An additional £9 million will be made available for solar PV applications under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 2 from 1 July 2009.
	Solar PV also receives support through the Renewables Obligation (RO). Since 1 April 2009, all microgenerators (50 kW and under) can apply for the highest level of support under the reformed RO (2 ROCs/MWh).

Warm Front Scheme

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households received assistance under the Warm Front programme in 2008-09; and how many households he estimates will receive such assistance in  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11.

Joan Ruddock: The following tables detail  (a) the number of households assisted in 2008-09 and  (b) the estimated number of households to be assisted in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	It is important to note that the estimates for these years are based on current, yet contingent information, including the available budget for these years—which may change. The estimates do not take account of the anticipated reductions in the costs of work which are expected as a result of the changes to scheme processes being enforced through the ongoing contract renegotiations with eaga which are not yet complete. A number of changes of this kind have been agreed, including the introduction of competition between installers for work which will drive down costs, meaning more homes than those quoted below may be assisted.
	It is also essential to note that these estimates have been affected by the recent increase in the Warm Front grant maxima. While the uplift will lead to fewer homes being assisted, it also means that fewer of the homes that are assisted will be asked to make a contribution towards the cost of the work.
	
		
			   (a) Number of households assisted 
			 2008-09 233,594 
		
	
	
		
			   (b) Estimated number of households to be assisted 
			 2009-10 215,000 
			 2010-2011 91,100

TRANSPORT

Airports: South East

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent representations he has received about the creation of a Route Development Fund for airports in the South East; when he plans to respond to such representations; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has received a letter from Kent county council with outline proposals for a Kent and Essex Route Development Fund, covering Manston, Lydd and Southend airports. The Department expects to respond to the letter shortly.

Aviation: Disabled

David Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 5 May 2009,  Official Report, column 21W, on aviation: disabled, if he will seek discussions with the European Commission to reduce or end restrictions and extra charges by airlines on passengers who require supplementary oxygen.

Paul Clark: European Regulation 1107/2006 on the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air does not impose specific obligations to carry or provide oxygen in the cabin. The Department for Transport has raised the issue of carriage of medical oxygen with the European Commission at a recent meeting of national enforcement bodies for Regulation 1107/2006.
	The Commission is due to review the regulation in 2010. To help the air transport industry to comply with its obligations under the regulation, the Department has published an updated version of its code of practice 'Access to Air Travel for Disabled Persons and Persons with Reduced Mobility'. The code includes a section on oxygen which advises that air carriers may approve the carriage of small gaseous oxygen or air cylinders required for medical use, but notes that carriers will wish to ensure that these do not pose a risk to security. The code also recommends that portable oxygen concentrator devices should normally be allowed if battery powered. Where air carriers wish to supply medical oxygen to passengers on request, the code acknowledges that it would be possible to make a charge for this service to cover the provision of the oxygen.

Bus Services: Standards

Graham Stringer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he plans to publish the Regulations on Quality Contracts.

Sadiq Khan: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) on 19 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1267W.

Driving Standards Agency: Manpower

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each Driving Standards Agency office in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: The Driving Standards Agency does not hold data by individual location.
	Information requested has been supplied for the Driving Standards Agency in total:
	
		
			   Directors  Senior managers  Specialist and delivery staff  Support and administration 
			 2004-05 8 55 19 2,627 
			 2005-06 9 62 19 2,667 
			 2006-07 8 85 21 2,543 
			 2007-08 9 90 22 2,598 
			 2008-09 9 110 25 2,611

Driving: EU Action

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will take steps at EU level to seek to ensure mutual recognition of driving disqualifications in all EU member states.

Paul Clark: The United Kingdom is a signatory to the 1998 European convention on driving disqualifications. The necessary primary legislation in connection with this convention forms part of the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003.
	The convention does not come into practical effect across all member states until all 15 original signatories have adopted it. I understand that only Spain has done so.
	However, the convention also allows member states to bring in arrangements early. The UK and the Republic of Ireland have been discussing a bilateral arrangement to do so together, but no final arrangements have yet been made.
	To date, no other EU member state has expressed an interest in making such an arrangement with the UK.

Driving: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many residents of Tamworth constituency had their driving licences suspended in each of the last three years.

Paul Clark: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not readily hold this information in the requested format.

Highways Agency: Manpower

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each Highways Agency office in each of the last five years.

Chris Mole: The Highways Agency does not specifically categorise its staff in the requested format. However, in broad terms senior civil servants equate to directors, pay band 7 and 8 to senior managers, pay band 5 and 6 to specialists and delivery managers, and pay band 1 to 4 to executive support and administrative.
	The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the merits of transferring commercial vehicle testing to the private sector.

Paul Clark: Following an extensive consultation process, the Department for Transport announced on 3 July 2008 that the testing of commercial vehicles would continue to be conducted within the public sector by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA).
	However, in order to meet customer requirements for a modern, flexible service, and to reduce vehicle downtime and associated costs for operators, the Agency aims to significantly increase the number of annual tests conducted at private sector premises over the next three years. These tests will still be conducted by VOSA staff.

Road Signs and Markings

Mark Hunter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many new  (a) road traffic signs and  (b) road markings have been included in the Highway Code in each year since 1997.

Paul Clark: The Highway Code provides information to road users about the safe and legal use of the network. It is not intended as a comprehensive guide to traffic signs and road markings, but the reference section in recent editions has included a number of depictions and explanations of selected signs and road markings as follows:
	
		
			  Edition  Total traffic signs( 1)  Road markings 
			 1996 189 28 
			 1999 191 31 
			 2004 190 31 
			 2007 200 31 
			 (1 )Including traffic signals.

Road Signs and Markings

Mark Hunter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of levels of  (a) understanding of and  (b) compliance with road signs and markings among drivers aged (i) between 17 and 24, (ii) between 25 and 30, (iii) between 31 and 35, (iv) between 36 and 40, (v) between 40 and 60 and (vi) over 60 years.

Paul Clark: This information is not held centrally. However, understanding and effectiveness of certain traffic signs are being considered as key issues for the Department's current review of traffic signs policy.

Roads: Accidents

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many  (a) fatal and  (b) non-fatal road traffic accidents were recorded on roads in Peterborough in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: The number of  (a) fatal and  (b) non-fatal reported personal injury road traffic accidents recorded on roads in Peterborough in each of the last five years is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of accidents 
			   Accident severity 
			   Fatal  Injury 
			 2004 15 916 
			 2005 10 914 
			 2006 8 816 
			 2007 18 716 
			 2008 11 792

Roads: Accidents

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many  (a) fatal and  (b) non-fatal road traffic accidents were recorded in (i) Southampton and (ii) Test Valley Borough in 2008.

Paul Clark: In 2008 there were five fatal and 617 non-fatal reported personal injury road accidents in Southampton, and four fatal and 324 non-fatal accidents in Test Valley borough.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will make it his policy to bring forward proposals for a cap on emissions from the shipping industry.

Paul Clark: The Government are working to achieve international agreement, at the forthcoming Copenhagen conference, on a carbon dioxide emissions reduction target for the shipping sector.
	Subsequently, the Government will seek to achieve agreement in the International Maritime Organisation on an economic instrument to achieve reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from shipping, specifically a global emissions trading scheme incorporating a cap.

Shipping: Renewable Energy

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps his Department is taking to encourage the development of shipping technologies based on non-fossil fuel power sources.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport and its Maritime and Coastguard Agency participate actively in the work of the International Maritime Organisation to promote alternative modes of propulsion for ships. The Department has met proponents of alternative modes of propulsion and encouraged them in their efforts.

Vehicle Certification Agency: Consultants

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much the Vehicle Certification Agency spent on consultants in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: The Vehicle Certification Agency has spent the following amounts on consultants over the last five years:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2004-05 0.1 
			 2005-06 0.1 
			 2006-07 0.1 
			 2007-08 0.1 
			 2008-09 0.1

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Members: Allowances

John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the Commission will publish the information requested in all outstanding requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for information relating to hon. Members' expenses.

Nick Harvey: The House will fulfil all of its obligations under the Act and the responses to all requests will depend on the circumstances relevant in each case.

Nurseries

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the House of Commons Commission will introduce crèche facilities in the House of Commons.

Nick Harvey: In July 2008, the Commission asked the Administration Committee to look at child care and assess the level of demand among Members for any change to the current arrangements. The advice is expected soon.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many anti-social behaviour orders in Northern Ireland have been breached in each year since 2004.

Paul Goggins: The relevant authorities have notified the Northern Ireland Office that 18 ASBO holders were sentenced in court for a breach of their ASBO.
	Additionally, in two cases, the individual went on to be sentenced again for a further breach. This gives a total of 20 ASBOs that were sentenced in court for a breach.
	The annual figures are:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2005 3 
			 2006 0 
			 2007 11 
			 2008 6

Community Relations: Coleraine

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to reduce levels of sectarian tensions in Coleraine.

Paul Goggins: PSNI officers have been working tirelessly to reduce tensions and provide reassurance to all the communities in the Coleraine area.
	Additional PSNI officers have also been appointed to neighbourhood policing teams; they are liaising with community associations to ensure a co-ordinated approach.

Departmental Lost Property

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many laptop computers belonging to  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have been lost or stolen in the last five years.

Paul Goggins: Five laptop computers have been lost by, or stolen from, the Department and its agencies since 1 January 2004.

Departmental Manpower

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people from ethnic minority backgrounds his Department employs.

Paul Goggins: To monitor the effectiveness of its equal opportunities policies, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) monitors its work force in a number of areas. While the monitoring of community background is mandatory for NIO staff in Northern Ireland, information on other categories, including ethnicity, is provided by staff on a voluntary basis. Records show that 13 staff in the NIO Core Department have declared they are from an ethnic minority background.

Migrant Workers

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of migrant workers in Northern Ireland from attacks against minority groups.

Paul Goggins: My Department is working closely with other statutory agencies and the PSNI to ensure that migrant workers and minority groups get the support they need.
	The Hate Incidents Practical Action (HIPA) Scheme is a regional initiative that is jointly supported by the Northern Ireland Office Community Safety Unit, PSNI and the Housing Executive (NIHE), and provides personal and home security measures for victims of hate incidents.
	In 2007, the Criminal Justice Inspection for Northern Ireland published a thematic review of the management of hate crime by the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. In response to the report, the Community Safety Forum, a sub-group of the Criminal Justice Board, has drawn up an Action Plan to address the recommendations and to underpin the commitment of the criminal justice system to tackling hate crime.
	All criminal justice organisations are working to improve their response to hate crime and to provide help and support to the victims of such crimes.

Northern Ireland Youth Justice Agency: Manpower

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people work for the Youth Justice Agency.

Paul Goggins: As of 31 March 2009, the Youth Justice Agency had 368 permanent staff in post.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Recruitment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is taking to increase the number of Catholic recruits to the PSNI.

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Reserves

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many part-time reservists have been retained by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Homophobia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps his Department has taken to combat homophobia in developing countries.

Chris Bryant: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK believes that every state has an obligation to protect the rights of all its citizens, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) people, without discrimination of any kind. We regularly raise this with governments of countries where the rights of LGBT people are violated. In countries where same sex relationships are illegal, we continue to press for decriminalisation.
	In 2008 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office launched a "toolkit" designed to provide guidance to our posts to help them in lobbying host governments to protect LGBT rights. We work extensively through the EU and other actors to promote LGBT rights including through wider equality and non-discrimination initiatives. At the end of 2008, the UK was heavily involved in lobbying for support for the joint UN Statement on the Rights of LGBT people at the UN General Assembly. This was supported by a number of developing countries.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Legislation

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Leader of the House when she expects the Government's Draft Legislative Programme for 2009-10 to be published; and if she will make a statement.

Barbara Keeley: The Government's Draft Legislative Programme was published today as part of 'Building Britain's Future.'

Written Questions

Greg Knight: To ask the Leader of the House what steps she intends to take to improve the system of written parliamentary questions in the House.

Barbara Keeley: My right hon. Friend and I keep the issue of written parliamentary questions under constant review and we await with interest the report of the right hon. Gentleman's committee.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009,  Official Report, column 166W, on British Overseas Territories: young offenders, how many of the personal records held on the Overseas Territories Regional Crime Intelligence System relate to cross-border drug offences.

Chris Bryant: There are 28,175 records relating to all drug offences on the Overseas Territories Regional Criminal Intelligence System. However, the system is not designed to differentiate between offences for drug use and those relating specifically to the movement of drugs across borders.

British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what acreage of land in the  (a) Cayman Islands and  (b) British Virgin Islands was designated as (i) environmentally protected and (ii) a site of scientific interest in the last five years.

Chris Bryant: The information requested is held by the Governments of the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands. Due to capacity constraints in both Territories, neither has been able to provide the information in the time available. We will revert with the information as soon as we receive it.

Cayman Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Royal Navy ships are deployed in the Caribbean to combat illegal immigration in the Cayman Islands.

Chris Bryant: Royal Navy vessels are deployed to the Caribbean primarily to support the security of the Caribbean Overseas Territories and Bermuda during the hurricane season.
	The Cayman Islands Government are responsible for matters related to illegal immigration.

Cayman Islands: Tourism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British tourists visited the Cayman Islands in each of the last 10 years.

Chris Bryant: The Economics and Statistics Office in the Cayman Islands collates visitor arrivals figures by country of origin. These are available at:
	http://www.eso.ky/pagesl.php?page=tourismstatistics

Commonwealth: Meetings

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the  (a) Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and  (b) Commonwealth Foreign Ministers' meeting in 2011 are scheduled to take place.

Ivan Lewis: The Commonwealth Secretariat ordinarily arranges Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM) for November. In a CHOGM year Commonwealth Foreign Ministers usually meet twice. The first meeting is usually held in the margins of UN General Assembly meetings in September. They then typically meet again immediately prior to CHOGM itself. We have no confirmation of dates, but have no reason to believe this arrangement will be any different in 2011.

Departmental Air Travel

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, column 233W, on departmental air travel, whether duty staff travelling on journeys by air of over three hours duration may  (a) claim for business class travel as part of the cost of a first class ticket and  (b) travel in economy class but claim for a business class ticket.

Chris Bryant: Staff travelling on duty journeys (official trips) are required to use approved routes, which are usually the most direct and economical. Staff on duty journeys are not permitted to fly in first class and are not permitted to downgrade to a lower class of travel and save or use the balance. Any fare saved by downgrading accrues to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Departmental Energy

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which official is responsible for the energy efficiency of his Department's estate.

Chris Bryant: Sir Peter Ricketts, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, has overall responsibility for the energy efficiency of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Departmental Reports

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what unclassified reports his Department's policy planning staff have produced in the last 12 months.

David Miliband: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Strategy Unit (formerly Policy Planning Staff) has produced reports on a range of subjects in this period in order to stimulate policy debate within the FCO. Only one of these has not had a formal classification: on the role of non-traditional actors in foreign policy.

General Affairs and External Relations Council: Meetings

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the meetings of the General Affairs and External Relations Council in 2010 and 2011 are scheduled to take place.

Chris Bryant: Spain has announced provisional dates for the General Affairs and External Relations Council for January to June 2010, when it will hold the presidency of the Council of the EU. These dates are as follows:
	25-26 January 2010
	22-23 February 2010
	22-23 March 2010
	26-27 April 2010
	10-11 May 2010
	14-15 June 2010
	No dates are yet available for July 2010 onwards.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 73W, on Gibraltar, whether he plans to meet  (a) his Spanish counterpart and  (b) representatives of EU institutions to discuss the matter further.

Chris Bryant: As stated in my previous answer, the UK has made written and oral representations to Spain and to the EU Commission at ministerial and official level. The UK will continue to seek opportunities to raise this matter with the Commission and Spain until such time as the issue is resolved.

Global Security

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to respond to the Fourth Report of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Session 2008-09, on Global Security: Non-proliferation, HC 222.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will carefully consider the conclusions and recommendations of the report of the Foreign Affairs Committee and reply within two months of its publication

Iran: British Nationality

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British nationals are living in Iran.

Chris Bryant: We do not hold an exact figure for the number of British nationals living in Iran. Our overseas registration system, LOCATE, currently has 306 British nationals registered as living in Iran. Of this figure 281 are resident and 25 are visitors (business/family/education/tourist). However, as there is no obligation to register through LOCATE, the actual figure may be considerably higher.
	We continue to encourage all British nationals abroad to register using the LOCATE system.

Madeleine McCann

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government has made any representations to the Portuguese authorities on pursuing its investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in the last six months.

Chris Bryant: Our embassy in Lisbon has continued to raise the case with the Portuguese authorities. The head of the Portuguese Criminal Investigation Police has made clear to the embassy that he is ready to consider any credible new leads that come to light.

North America: Embassies

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations his Department held prior to its decision to transfer the passport issue service from the British high commission in Ottawa to the North American Passport Production Centre; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The decision to transfer passport services from the British high commission in Ottawa to the British embassy in Washington was taken by an internal Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Consular Programme Board in September 2008. This followed consultation with the high commissioner in Ottawa and the ambassador in Washington, other senior managers in both posts, the consular regional director for North America and the geographical directorate in the UK. The FCO director general for change and delivery and the permanent under secretary were both invited to comment on the board's recommendation and subsequently endorsed the decision.

Treaty of Lisbon

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what legal advice he  (a) sought and  (b) received on the implications for the validity of existing ratifications of the text of the Lisbon Treaty of the changes made to that treaty by the arrangements entered into by the European Council on 18 and 19 June; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: holding answer 26 June 2009
	My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear in his statement to Parliament on 23 June 2009,  Official Report, column 662 that:
	"When the Council met in December, we agreed that we would seek to provide the legal assurances that Ireland needed to move forward on the Lisbon treaty—that is, on taxation, defence, the right to life, education and the family. But we were equally clear in doing so that there could be no change or amendment to the treaty, only clarification of what it will and will not do. That is exactly the purpose of the guarantees that the Council has agreed for Ireland."

Treaty of Lisbon

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's Statement of 23 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 661-77, on the European Council, if he will withdraw the UK's instrument of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

Chris Bryant: holding answer 26 June 2009
	As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear in his statement to Parliament on 23 June 2009,  Official Report, column 662, the guarantees for Ireland agreed at the June European Council make
	"no change or amendment to the treaty, only clarification of what it will and will not do."
	Parliament has decided on the Lisbon treaty. The treaty was debated in detail in Parliament over 25 days; both Houses voted strongly in favour at every stage. The EU (Amendment) Bill which implements the Lisbon treaty in UK law received Royal Assent on 19 June 2008, and the Government ratified the treaty on 16 July 2008.

UN General Assembly: Meetings

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the opening sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in 2010 and 2011 are scheduled to take place.

Ivan Lewis: The UN General Assembly session opens on the third Tuesday in September every year, as per rule number 1 of its Rules of Procedure available at the UN website.
	This will be 21 September 2010 and 20 September 2011. The general debate is normally held the subsequent week.

TREASURY

Departmental Billing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, column 50W, on departmental billing, how much his Department's non-departmental public bodies paid in interest under the Late Payment Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury does not have responsibility for any non-departmental public bodies.

Departmental Data Protection

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many breaches of information security there have been at  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies in the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury Group reports all significant personal data security breaches to the Cabinet Office and the Information Commissioner's Office. Information on personal data security breaches are published on an annual basis in the Department's annual resource accounts as was announced in the Data Handling Review published on 25 June 2008. The Department has had no personal data security breaches in the last five years.
	Additionally, any significant control weaknesses—including other significant security breaches (of which there have been none during the last five years)—are required to be included in the Statement of Internal Control, published within the Department's annual resource accounts.
	In the five years to 2008-09 there were six less significant breaches of information security.

Departmental Pay

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of his Department's  (a) agencies and  (b) non-departmental public bodies have submitted bids for efficiency savings to be used for pay improvements in 2009 pay offers.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No agency of Treasury has submitted a bid for efficiency savings to be used for pay improvements in 2009. Treasury has no non-departmental public bodies under its aegis.

Furnished Holiday Lettings Scheme Regulations

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will consult representatives of the  (a) tourism sector and  (b) holiday lettings industry on the proposed changes to the Furnished Holiday Lettings Scheme regulations;
	(2)  if he will assess the likely effects on  (a) the economy of rural and coastal areas and  (b) rural tourism businesses of the changes to the Furnished Holiday Lettings Scheme announced in Budget 2009.

Stephen Timms: The Government announced the withdrawal of the furnished holiday lettings scheme from 2010 at the 2009 Budget. It will bring forward legislation to achieve this aim in the 2010 Finance Bill.
	The Government will be publishing draft legislation for consultation at the pre-Budget report. An impact assessment will also be published at this time.

IBC Vehicles (General Motors) Luton

Margaret Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely effects on IBC Vehicles (General Motors) Luton of the proposed car scrappage scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Through the temporary vehicle scrappage scheme, announced at Budget 2009, a discount of £2,000 will be offered to consumers buying a new vehicle to replace a vehicle more than 10 years old which they have owned for more than twelve months. This discount will be co-funded by Government and manufacturers, with the Government setting aside up to £300 million for the scheme.
	Assessments of the impact of the temporary vehicle scrappage scheme on individual manufacturers have not been made and are likely to be commercially confidential. Currently, 38 manufacturers, including General Motors UK, are participating in the scheme. The latest figures suggest that over 74,000 vehicles have been ordered through the scheme.

Landsbanki: Guernsey

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2009,  Official Report, column 851W, on Landsbanki: Guernsey, whether he has offered the Guernsey authorities a loan with a view to progressing payments to depositors affected by the failure of Landsbanki Guernsey;
	(2)  what the timetable is for the conclusion of discussions between his Department and the Guernsey authorities in relation to depositors affected by the failure of Landsbanki Guernsey.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, the Government do not disclose the outcome or results of all such meetings and discussions.

Lenders' Panel

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2009,  Official Report, column 413W, on the Lenders' Panel, on which dates the panel has met since its creation; and which members attended each meeting.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The lending panel was established at the 2008 pre-Budget report and meets on a monthly basis.
	Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As has been the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Poverty

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Dundee, West of 16 April 2007,  Official Report, column 422W, on working tax credit, what the evidential basis was for the statement that it is those aged 25 years or over who are most likely to face poorer incentives to work or suffer persistent poverty in work.

Stephen Timms: Analysis has shown that introduction of the working tax credit halted a sharp fall in the employment rate of people without children at age 25. This analysis was published in March 2008 in "Working Tax Credit and Labour Supply: Treasury Economic Working Paper No. 3", available online at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/bud08_workingpaper3_455.pdf
	The Labour Force Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics, also shows that while working people experience substantial wage growth up to around age 25, wage growth for those aged 25 and over is much slower. Someone who is still on a low income by the age of 25 or over is therefore more likely to experience persistent poverty.

Tax Credit Office: Correspondence

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how long on average the Tax Credit Office took to respond to written queries in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available.

Welfare Tax Credits

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid out in tax credits to deceased claimants in each of the last three financial years; and how much in such payments has been recovered from the estates of the deceased.

Stephen Timms: For information about the amount of overpaid tax credits, attributable to deceased claimants up to and including 2006-07, I refer the hon. Member to the answers my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Jane Kennedy), gave him on 8 October 2007,  Official Report, column 244W and on 10 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1786W. The equivalent figure for 2007-08 was around £2 million and information for 2008-09 will be available in May 2010. Such overpayments can arise due to the time taken to notify HMRC of a death.
	HM Revenue and Customs do not maintain separate records of the amounts of overpaid tax credits recovered from the estates of deceased claimants.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

City Regions

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects to announce the first pilot city regions.

Rosie Winterton: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in Budget 2009 Greater Manchester and Leeds city region as city-region pilots.

Council Tax: Valuation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the automated valuation model is used for the purpose of council tax valuations and revaluations in  (a) England and  (b) Wales.

Rosie Winterton: The information is as follows:
	 (a) Not at present.
	 (b) This is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.

Economic Prosperity Boards

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in what ways the  (a) role,  (b) powers and  (c) funding of economic prosperity boards will differ from those held by local authorities.

Rosie Winterton: The precise role, powers and funding of an economic prosperity board will be proposed by the group of local authorities wishing to form the board, and will be confirmed in a statutory order made by the Secretary of State. Economic prosperity boards will be required to perform their functions with a view to promoting the economic development and regeneration of their area. They will be funded by their constituent local authorities and will not have precepting or levying powers.

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what remuneration the members of the Homes and Communities Agency's Housing Finance Group will receive;
	(2)  what budget the Homes and Communities Agency has assigned to its Housing Finance Group in each of the next two years;
	(3)  how often he expects the Homes and Communities Agency's Housing Finance Group to meet; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  by what date he expects the Homes and Communities Agency's Housing Finance Group to submit its proposals to the Agency.

John Healey: The details of when the HCA's Housing Finance Group will meet and when it will report are on the HCA's website at:
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/finance--advise-investment-housing.htm
	The group has no budget of its own but any costs associated with the group's work will be absorbed by other HCA budgets that have been identified for work of this nature.
	Members of this group will be paid travel and subsistence costs where appropriate apart from the chair who is taking on this position as part of his wider duties as an adviser to the HCA. Remuneration for his role as consultant is currently in negotiation and will be published in due course.

Housing: Asbestos

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department provides to  (a) local authorities,  (b) leaseholders and  (c) tenants about the health risks from asbestos in residential property; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: The housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS) is a risk based evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety from any deficiencies identified in dwellings. It was introduced under the Housing Act 2004 and came into effect on 6 April 2006. It applies to all residential properties in England.
	The HHSRS assesses 29 categories of housing hazard. Each hazard has a weighting which will help determine whether the property is rated as having category 1 (serious) or category 2 (other) hazards. Asbestos (and manufactured mineral fibres) are one of the hazards.
	In February 2006, "Housing Health and Safety Rating System: Operating Guidance" and "Housing Health and Safety Rating System: Enforcement Guidance" were published. In May 2006 "Housing Health and Safety Rating System: Guidance for Landlords and Property Related Professionals" was published.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have  (a) received and  (b) been refused assistance under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point in each month since its inception.

John Healey: The Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been operational across England since January 2009. As part of the monitoring arrangements for the scheme, headline data for January - April 2009, provided by local authorities operating the scheme and broken down by Government office region, are available on the Department's website, by following the link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/mortgagerescuestatistics.
	Figures reported by local authorities from January - April 2009 are provided in a table, which has been placed in the Library.
	In the current economic conditions, we have acted rapidly to put in place help and support for households struggling with their mortgage at every stage: from free debt advice when problems start, to free support for cases that reach court. Advice is available to all households struggling with their mortgage, with targeted schemes for those in most need.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in negative equity have received assistance under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme.

John Healey: In the current economic conditions, we have acted rapidly to put in place help and support for households struggling with their mortgage at every stage: from free debt advice when problems start, to free support for cases that reach court. From 1 May, the Mortgage Rescue Scheme was expanded to include some households in negative equity. Monitoring data are available from:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/mortgagerescuestatistics
	This does not currently include specific information about applicants in negative equity.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have  (a) received and  (b) been declined assistance under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in (i) the London Borough of Enfield and (ii) Enfield, North constituency in each month since the scheme was established.

John Healey: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) today (PQ 282079).

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households in  (a) Welwyn Hatfield and  (b) Hertfordshire have (i) applied for and (ii) been accepted to the Mortgage Rescue Scheme.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) today (PQ 282963).

Planning: Travelling People

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which regional spatial strategies are being reviewed in relation to provision for sites for Gypsies and Travellers; and when he expects each such review to be completed.

Ian Austin: The following regional spatial strategies are being reviewed to address the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers.
	North-west, Regional car parking standards, Gypsy and Travellers and Travelling Show people, review scheduled to be completed by 2010;
	Yorkshire and Humber, review scheduled to be completed by 2011; West Midlands phase 3, review scheduled to be completed by 2011;
	East of England, Gypsy and Travellers alterations, review scheduled to be completed by 2009;
	South-east, Gypsy and Travellers alterations, review scheduled to be completed by 2010;
	South-west, full review, date of completion to be confirmed: and
	London, full review scheduled to be completed by 2011.

Planning: Travelling People

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the 2006 baseline requirement for Gypsy and Traveller pitches is in each region; and what requirement for such pitches for the period 2006 to 2016 has been included in each  (a) finalised and  (b) draft regional spatial strategy.

Ian Austin: There is no baseline requirement for Gypsy and Traveller pitches.
	The pitch figures included in RSSs are informed by Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessments (GTAA) which are prepared by local authorities and fed upwards to the regional planning body which drafts the RSS.
	The timescale for the delivery of pitch numbers contained in RSSs varies from region to region, but they typically reflect a need over a five year period.
	The pitch numbers contained in each draft and finalised regional spatial strategy are set out as follows:
	 Draft Regional Spatial Strategies
	North-west, partial review, pitch figures being worked up.
	Yorkshire and Humber, full review, pitch figures being worked up.
	West Midlands, phase 3, pitch figures being worked up.
	East of England, partial review, 1,237 pitches.
	South-east, partial review, 1,064 pitches.
	South-west, full review, 1,672 pitches.
	London, full review, 768 pitches.
	 Finalised Regional Spatial Strategies
	North-east, full review, 166 pitches.
	North-west, full review, no pitch figures.
	Yorkshire and Humber, full review, 255 pitches.
	East Midlands, full review, 883 pitches.
	East of England, full review, no pitch figures.
	South-east, full review, no pitch figures.
	London, full review, no pitch figures.

Working Neighbourhoods Fund

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to distribute the Working Neighbourhoods Fund to those super output areas within the highest 10 per cent. of deprivation.

Rosie Winterton: Working Neighbourhoods Fund is distributed to local authorities that:
	have 20 per cent. or more of their lower super output areas in the most deprived 10 per cent. on the employment domain of the index of multiple deprivation 2007; and/or
	have 20 per cent. or more of their lower super output areas in the most deprived 10 per cent. on the overall index of multiple deprivation 2007; and/or
	are ranked among the top 50 districts with the highest combined benefit/non-employment rate.
	The eligibility criteria were the subject of consultation and were carefully developed to ensure that the available funds provided sufficient resource to make a difference in deprived communities with problems of worklessness.
	There are no current plans to change the distribution, and we have announced indicative funding for the 2008-09 to 2010-11 spending period.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Jobseeker's Allowance: Construction Industry

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment she has made of entitlement to jobseeker's allowance of construction industry workers during periods of temporary unemployment; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: A construction industry worker or anyone else who has been temporary laid-off work, or who is on short-time working, may be entitled to JSA provided they meet certain conditions.
	There are no plans to review this policy.

Employment Support Allowance

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment she has made of the merits of exempting terminally and chronically-ill employment support allowance claimants from back-to-work interview requirements.

Jonathan R Shaw: In establishing employment and support allowance, we recognised that there are people whom it would be unreasonable to expect to engage in work-related activity.
	These individuals are identified through the work capability assessment and are placed in the support group. They do not have to take part in work-focused interviews. People who are terminally ill are also placed in the support group. Whether or not those who are chronically ill have to attend interviews would depend on the outcome of the work capability assessment.
	Customers in the support group may access appropriate support provision voluntarily. I believe that this continues to be the right approach and have no plans for placing conditionality requirements upon them.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseeker's allowance claimants there were in Kettering constituency  (a) in May 1997 and  (b) on the latest date for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: There were 1,498 jobseeker's allowance claimants in May 1997 and 2,729 in May 2009 in Kettering constituency.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseeker's allowance claimants there were in  (a) the UK and  (b) East Devon constituency on the latest date for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: In May 2009, there were 1,516,921 jobseeker's allowance claimants in Great Britain and 1,063 in Devon East constituency.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseeker's allowance claimants there were in  (a) the UK and  (b) Upminster constituency on the latest date for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: In May 2009, there were 1,516,921 jobseeker's allowance claimants in Great Britain and 1,730 in Upminster constituency.

Employment: Learning Disabilities

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps she is taking to assist people with a learning disability to secure employment.

Angela Eagle: 'Valuing Employment Now: Real Jobs for People with Learning Disabilities' was launched jointly by this Department and the Department for Health on 24 June 2009.
	'Valuing Employment Now' is based on the Government's belief that all people with learning disabilities, like all other people, can and should have the chance to work. To deny people that opportunity is a waste of talent for the individuals, employers, society, and the wider economy.
	'Valuing Employment Now' therefore sets out the Government's goal to increase radically the number of people with moderate and severe learning disabilities in employment by 2025.
	This is a challenging goal, but one we are committed to.

Older People: Recession

Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to assist older people during the recession.

Angela Eagle: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on 22 June 2009,  Official  R eport , column 683W.

Long-term Incapacity Benefit

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assistance the Government are providing to long-term incapacity benefit claimants.

Jonathan R Shaw: We have already invested heavily to support existing incapacity benefit customers into work by ensuring they can volunteer for any appropriate back to work support available in Pathways to Work. Our recent White Paper announced a strong package of new initiatives to provide further support to this group, including pilots of new innovative approaches such as the "invest to save" pathfinders recommended by David Freud.

Disabled People

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to assist disabled people to live independently.

Jonathan R Shaw: Independent living is at the heart of the Government's strategy for disabled people and the Office for Disability Issues is leading on two major cross-Government initiatives.
	The Independent Living Strategy published in 2008 sets out a five-year plan for making progress on delivering choice and control for all disabled people.
	The new Welfare Reform Bill will further empower disabled people by creating a new right giving them greater choice and control over certain state funding streams known as the "Right to Control".

Apprenticeships

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the relationship between the level of unemployment and the number of apprenticeships available.

Jim Knight: My Department and that of my hon. Friend the Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills remain in close contact on a wide range of matters relating to unemployment. Apprentices who lose their placements and become unemployed and claim benefit will have access to all the targeted support offered by Jobcentre Plus to help them move into work as quickly as possible.

Departmental Press

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what  (a) newspapers and  (b) periodicals are delivered to the private office of each Minister in her Department; and at what cost in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jonathan R Shaw: The following newspapers and periodicals were delivered to the ministerial private offices for the financial year 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009:
	 Newspaper/periodical titles
	 Economist
	 Time magazine
	 Newsweek
	 Financial Times
	 Times
	 Daily Telegraph
	 Guardian
	 Independent
	 Daily Mail
	 Daily Express
	 Daily Mirror
	 Sun
	 Spectator
	 Evening Standard
	 New Statesman
	 Private Eye
	 Tribune
	 Birmingham Post
	 Yorkshire Post
	 Glasgow Herald
	 Daily Record
	 Scotsman
	 Voice Weekly
	 Eastern Eye
	 Asian Women
	 Gay Times
	 Womens Health
	 Community Care
	Total cost: £13,128.35
	The DWP Library delivers  (a) newspapers  (b) periodicals to the various Private Offices. Private Offices also receive other publications, such as trade publications and charity magazines direct from other organisations. Information on these is not held centrally so not possible to provide. Some of the publications listed were cancelled during the course of the financial year 2008-09.

Pensions: Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations she has received on the supply by individual pension providers of updated information to customers under pension simplification regulations.

Angela Eagle: I am not aware of any specific representations.

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 27-28WS, on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, whether the optional protocol to the convention will be designated a European Community Treaty.

Jonathan R Shaw: No, the Government's view is that this is not necessary.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which  (a) sections of his Department and  (b) non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible have requested money saved from efficiency savings to be used for increased pay in their 2009 pay offers to staff.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 26 June 2009
	 Neither DCMS nor the non-departmental public bodies it is responsible for have made any such requests.

Mass Media: Competition

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will assess the likely effects of limiting each media company to single proprietor or group ownership in the media industry; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: The Communications Act 2003 requires Ofcom to conduct a statutory review of the media ownership rules every three years. Ofcom are now undertaking such a review and are expected to report back later in the year.

Museums, Libraries and Archives Council

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of moving the acquisitions, export and loans unit of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council from London to Birmingham.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 26 June 2009
	 The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has advised that the costs of moving its acquisitions, export and loans unit to Birmingham are estimated to be in the region of 350,000-400,000. This figure includes the costs of redundancies, recruitment and retention costs, some additional staffing and travel costs during the transitional period, and a small amount for physical infrastructure for the new unit.
	MLA has advised that these costs will be met from within its existing budget and that full details of expenditure will be published in its annual report and accounts.

National Lottery: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Lottery funding has been awarded to sport-related groups in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each of the last five years.

Si�n Simon: The information in the following table gives details of national lottery funding awarded to sport-related groups in Essex and Castle Point in each of the last five years.
	
		
			   
			  Financial year  Essex  Castle Point 
			 2004-05 9,635,885 368,937 
			 2005-06 2,121,264 4,978 
			 2006-07 1,362,773 18,034 
			 2007-08 3,644,830 22,055 
			 2008-09 2,164,121 40,790 
		
	
	The information comes from the DCMS's lottery grants database, with additional detail from the Big Lottery Fund. The database is searchable at:
	www.lottery.culture.gov.uk
	and uses information on lottery grants supplied by the lottery distributors.

Radio

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate his Department has made of the number of analogue radios in use in the UK.

Si�n Simon: Ofcom's research in September 2008 showed that about 45.9 million analogue radio devices were in use in the UK at least once a week. In addition their research showed that there were about 22.5 million cars with an analogue radio.

Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance his Department and its agencies provide to local authorities on the provision of events to attract tourists and visitors.

Barbara Follett: My Department has been working with the Tourism Alliance, the Department for Communities and Local Government, and the local authorities to ensure that tourism-related issues and activities have a more central place in planning guidance.
	In addition, my Department has developed, in partnership with the regional development agencies, the Local Government Association, and various local authorities, a document entitled Place Making: A Charter for Destination Management, which provides best practice guidance to local authorities on the support and promotion of the visitor economy.
	VisitBritain provides guidance in the form of its eventBritain programme, and maintains a dedicated website at:
	www.eventbritain.co.uk
	that outlines its areas of support for UK bidding partners on international events.

Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what mechanisms are in place to ensure the co-ordination of tourism marketing between regional development agencies and Visit Britain.

Barbara Follett: DCMS and VisitBritain work closely with partners in the regions. The chair of the South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) (the lead RDA for tourism) sits as an observer on the board of VisitBritain; and representatives of VisitBritain and DCMS participate in regular meetings of the RDA Tourism Leads Group. DCMS and VisitBritain also work with the Local Government Association, and with destination management bodies such as the British Resorts and Destinations Association and Destination Performance UK.
	The Partners for England initiative, (led by SWRDA and Visit England, and supported by DCMS), is working to develop better resource and policy co-ordination at national, regional and local levels, bringing together stakeholders to address better local authority engagement and performance; improved marketing co-ordination and coherence; improved tourism data and intelligence; and strengthened leadership and co-ordination structures.
	The British Tourism Framework Review led by VisitBritain sets a new agenda for tourism, including better co-ordination of the funding invested in tourism and to identify ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector support for tourism. The review was published by VisitBritain on 11 February and set out recommendations aimed at better co-ordination of the significant public investment being made centrally, regionally and locally. The review's proposals also involve the restructuring of VisitBritain and developing the role of Visit England, which will market England within a more focused partnership at national, regional and local levels.

Tourism: East of England

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department allocated for the development of the tourism sector in  (a) Mid Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: Responsibility for tourism in the regions was taken over by the regional development agencies (RDAs) in 2003. Funding for the RDAs is not ring-fenced for particular economic sectors, such as tourism. In each year between 2003-04 and 2007-08, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) contributed 3.6 million to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) single programme budget (the Single Pot) in respect of regional tourism responsibilities. The Single Pot, which will total approximately 2.2 billion, 2.2 billion and 2.1 billion in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively, is allocated amongst the RDAs by BIS. DCMS's contribution will be 3.5 million, 3.4 million and 3.3 million in these years.
	The reported tourism investment of the East of England Development Agency (in  million) was as follows:
	
		
			  The reported tourism investment of the East of England development agency 
			   Amount (  million ) 
			 2003-04 0.6 
			 2004-05 0.6 
			 2005-06 0.8 
			 2006-07 1.5 
			 2007-08 1.8 
			  Source:  Visit BritainBritish Tourism Framework Review, 2009

Tourism: Regulation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his Department's latest assessment is of the size of the regulatory burden on the tourism industry; and what steps he is taking to reduce that burden.

Barbara Follett: My Department works with others across Whitehall to reduce the regulatory burden on the tourism industry. Following this January's National Tourism Summit, Government and the industry have been working together to try and resolve concerns about existing, and future, regulatory burdens. These have been discussed by the newly formed Tourism Advisory Council and with tourism leads from the nations and regions.
	Following these discussions, I covered the first meeting of the inter-ministerial group on tourism, whose members are drawn from the main regulatory Departments, and asked them to take the economic importance of tourism into account when formulating new, or re-formulating old, regulatory proposals.
	Some of my Department's regulatory responsibilities concern the tourism and leisure sectors but, so far, it has achieved a 43 per cent. reduction in administrative burdens against a baseline established in May 2005. These savings in the cost of red tape are derived mainly from the reform of the licensing and gambling regimes.

Youth Culture Trust

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how much has been spent on preparing for the establishment of the Youth Culture Trust; and how much he expects to be spent on the Trust in each year to 2011;
	(2)  when he expects the Youth Culture Trust to be established.

Barbara Follett: The aim of the proposed Youth Culture Trust is to deliver the vision of the Find Your Talent programme, which we are investing almost 24 million in between now and 2011.
	However, until the work of the pathfinders has been assessed, the scale and purpose of the future programme cannot be agreed. The timing and precise arrangements for the establishment of the proposed Youth Culture Trust will be included in these discussions on the scale, purpose, and funding of the future Find Your Talent programme.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1273W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, when the rules of engagement in Afghanistan were last reviewed; and what changes were made to them as a result.

Bill Rammell: The UK rules of engagement profile for Operation Herrick was last amended on 5 February 2008. The UK rules of engagement profiles for UK forces deployed in Afghanistan are kept under constant scrutiny with a procedure in place for amendment requests to be sent from theatre to MOD for consideration. In addition, MOD keeps these profiles under constant review to ensure they reflect current legal and policy direction. The ISAF rules of engagement directives are regularly reviewed by Commander ISAF.
	I am withholding information on what changes were made on operational rules of engagement as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 24 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 58-9WS, on Afghanistan air support, whether the Tornado GR4s are at full operational capability with the urgent operational requirement enhancements which have been delivered.

Bill Rammell: I can confirm that the Tornado GR4 aircraft deployed to Afghanistan were at full operational capability on initial deployment.

Armed Forces: Equipment

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent steps his Department has taken to improve equipment for Army personnel.

Quentin Davies: In the past year, we have introduced a number of significant improvements to our equipment for Army personnel. The majority of the improvements relate to force protection including increasing the numbers of existing Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) equipment and an enhancement to the ECM capability.
	Improvements to existing vehicles, either complete or under way, include enhanced mine blast protection for the Viking all-terrain vehicle, a series of modifications to enhance Snatch's mobility and protection, and modifications to the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) to enable the vehicles to perform better in the harsh Afghan conditions.
	We have also continued to acquire new vehicles to meet the evolving threat. New vehicles delivered in the last year, or in the process of being delivered, include Mastiff 2, Ridgback and Panther. In addition, we have placed contracts for a number of new vehicles which include the three tactical support vehicles (Coyote, Husky and Wolfhound), Jackal 2, and Warthog. We intend that the tactical support vehicles will replace unprotected vehicles such as the General Service Land Rover and the RB44 operating outside our protected camps.
	Viking has now reached its limit to carry extra weight and protection and Warthog will replace Viking on operations.
	There have also been recent improvements in the personal equipment issued to our armed forces. These include the purchase of Underslung Grenade Launchers, combat shotguns and the 60mm mortar and improved night vision devices. We have also introduced enhancements to the fit of Osprey body armour which have improved user manoeuvrability. Additionally, a system which allows troops to wear front and back Osprey plates without the soft armour jacket has just been introduced. This system is used by troops who require extra mobility or are operating in confined spaces.
	To help counter the significant mine threat in Afghanistan, a system for searching and clearing of mines and improvised explosive devices from roads and predictable routes, Project Talisman, has been ordered. Talisman includes the Buffalo and Mastiff armoured vehicles, a small unmanned air vehicle and the high mobility engineer excavators. Also, additional Vallon hand held mine detectors have been purchased. The Vallon provides a significantly enhanced performance to the detector which it has replaced.
	Finally, a range of logistics vehicles such as the support vehicle and the heavy equipment transporter have been modified to 'Theatre Entry Standard' with, among others, improvements to air conditioning, dust filtration, night vision and additional armour. Protected plant equipment such as wheeled tractors have been delivered to operations with a second tranche now on order.

Armed Forces: Equipment

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent steps his Department has taken to improve equipment for Royal Air Force personnel.

Bill Rammell: In the past year, we have introduced a number of significant improvements to our equipment for Royal Air Force personnel.
	During 2008, we enhanced our strategic air lift capability by taking delivery of two more C-17s, taking our total C-17 fleet to six aircraft.
	We continue to improve our fast jet capabilities with significant enhancements to our Harrier and Tornado fleets. These improvements include our new Paveway IV Precision Guided Bomb, which entered service in December 2008, and which provides the RAF with a state of the art all-weather, day and night, precision bombing capability. The Dual Mode Seeker Brimstone also entered service in December 2008 providing increased target accuracy and reduced risk of collateral damage. We are making good progress on Typhoon too. On 1 July 2008, Typhoon was declared operational in the air to ground role, and on 21 October 2008, deliveries of our Tranche 2 Typhoon aircraft commenced.
	We have also increased our surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities with the introduction of the Airborne Stand off Radar, which achieved its in-service date in November 2008.
	On helicopters, we continue to deliver improvements to our fleet to ensure the safety, airworthiness and operational effectiveness of our platforms on operations. We continue to increase the number of helicopter flying hours available to our commanders in Afghanistan, which have gone up by 84 per cent. between November 2006 and April 2009 through the deployment of more aircraft and improvements in support and crewing arrangements. By the end of 2009, the Department intends to make the first of the eight Chinook Mk3 Reversion aircraft available for operations and will have deployed the RAF's Merlin Mk3 force to Afghanistan, providing a significant increase to our front-line helicopter capability.
	In the past year, there have been a number of improvements in the equipment provided to the RAF Regiment. The latest variant of the Snatch Land Rover, the Snatch Vixen which has improved mobility and protection is currently deployed on operations, as is the new Panther Command and Liaison vehicle. In addition to the new vehicles, there has also been recent improvement in dismounted close combat equipment including the supply of underslung grenade launchers, night vision devices, combat shotguns and the 60 mm mortar.

Armed Forces: Families

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department provides for the families of service personnel killed in action.

Kevan Jones: The MOD places a very high priority on the welfare of its service personnel and their families. To that end, the MOD has robust procedures in place to support immediate family members of service personnel who are killed while on operations. These procedures are under constant review to ensure that the support provided meets the needs of the recipients and reflect current MOD policy. Families are assigned a visiting officer who acts as the link between the family and the services, assisting with such matters as repatriation, funeral arrangements and expenses, and help with necessary paperwork to procure pensions etc. The visiting officers will also direct the family to the most appropriate internal and external welfare agencies for specific areas of support.

Armed Forces: Housing

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many overseas  (a) service family and  (b) single living accommodation units were in each condition grade in each year since 2001.

Kevan Jones: The requested information will take time to collate and verify. I will write to the hon. Member with the information that is available and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
	 Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to Liam Fox:
	In my answer of 30 March 2009,  Official Report, column 886W I undertook to write to you with the numbers of overseas Single Living Accommodation (SLA) and Service Family Accommodation (SFA) units in each condition grade in each year since 2001.
	The following numbers of overseas SFA properties, assessed for their Standard for Condition (SfC), were at each Standard in each year since 2003 (earlier figures are not available):
	
		
			   As at 1 April each year 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2006 
			 S1fC 361 331 618 181 395 462 
			 S2fC 881 479 519 589 408 446 
			 S3fC 754 690 744 237 283 274 
			 S4fC 1,833 1,779 921 1,848 1,687 1,619 
			 Total 3,829 3,279 2,802 2,855 2,773 2,801 
		
	
	'Condition Grade' data for SLA - an assessment of its physical condition and 'scale' (as defined in Joint Service Publication 315) - has only been available since 2007. In 2007 and 2008, overseas SLA was at the following grade:
	
		
			   June 2007  June 2008 
			 Grade 1 2,796 2,707 
			 Grade 2 1,594 1,818 
			 Grade 3 4,848 5,503 
			 Grade 4 17,990 12,375 
			 Total 27,228 22,403

Armed Forces: Housing

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1015-6W, on modern housing solutions: complaints, how many of the complaints made to Modern Housing Solutions originated in each region.

Kevan Jones: The requested information will take a little time to collate and verify. I will write to the hon. Member.
	 Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to Nick Harvey:
	In my answer of 28 April 2009, (Official Report, column 1150W), I promised to provide you with further information on the complaints received by Modern Housing Solutions (MHS) between May 2007 and May 2008 that originated in each region of England and Wales.
	Unfortunately, due to age of the data and changes in the way complaints are recorded it has not been possible to provide the requested details for 2007. However, the number of complaints in 2008, broken down by month and Ministry of Defence housing region is provided in the table below.
	In addition, I have included a table of number of missed appointments each month where MHS has voluntarily paid compensation to occupants in the form of a 20 gift voucher. Unfortunately, it is not possible to break the numbers down geographically.
	
		
			  Month  Housing region  Number of complaints 
			 January 2008 East 39 
			  London 120 
			  North 37 
			  South East 116 
			  South West 105 
			  West 33 
			  Total for month 450 
			
			 February 2008 East 44 
			  London 114 
			  North 41 
			  South East 101 
			  South West 101 
			  West 25 
			  Total for month 426 
			
			 March 2008 East 37 
			  London 98 
			  North 30 
			  South East 108 
			  South West 91 
			  West 18 
			  Total for month 382 
			
			 April 2008 East 63 
			  London 121 
			  North 29 
			  South East 102 
			  South West 88 
			  West 25 
			  Total for month 428 
			
			 May 2008 East 49 
			  London 113 
			  North 29 
			  South East 106 
			  South West 85 
			  West 15 
			  Total for month 397 
		
	
	
		
			   Missed appointments 
			 January 2008 208 
			 February 2008 186 
			 March 2008 180 
			 April 2008 303 
			 May 2008 225

Armed Forces: Housing

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of units of  (a) single living accommodation and  (b) service family accommodation at each location in England there are at each grade.

Kevan Jones: The table provided as follows shows, as of December 2008, the number and percentage of single living accommodation (SLA) broken down by grade. Grade is an assessment of the size, amenities and condition of the SLA.
	
		
			   Grade 1  Grade 2  Grade 3  Grade 4  
			  Region  No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  Grand total 
			 East Midlands 1,488 25 809 14 265 4 3,464 57 6,026 
			 East of England 3,989 32 2,680 22 2,337 19 3,289 27 12,295 
			 London 129 3 1,147 29 654 16 2,066 52 3,996 
			 North East 417 16 159 6 1,423 55 611 23 2,610 
			 North West 101 8 417 32 737 56 57 4 1,312 
			 South East 7,221 19 4,813 12 4,239 11 22,382 58 38,655 
			 South West 8,764 30 3,164 11 4,230 14 13,449 45 29,607 
			 West Midlands 1,236 19 1,129 18 1,907 29 2,216 34 6,488 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 3,589 31 742 7 2,240 19 5,040 43 11,611 
			 Wales 427 15 489 17 76 3 1,805 65 2,797 
			 Scotland 2,443 33 1,527 21 2,096 28 1,335 18 7,401 
			 Northern Ireland 1,445 36 971 24 900 22 717 18 4,033 
			 Grand total 31,249 25 18,047 14 21,104 17 56,431 44 126,831 
		
	
	Further details on this breakdown are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	It is not possible to provide a breakdown of service family accommodation as the information is not held in the form requested and will take more time to collate and verify. I will therefore write to the hon. Member with the requested information.
	 Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to Liam Fox:
	In my answer of 14 May 2009 (Official Report: Column 938W) I promised to provide you with the number of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) by location in England, at each Standard for Condition (SfC).
	The following table is the best available breakdown of SFA by location, in this case the Department's housing regions, and is correct as at 25 March 2009. This updates information given in my answer to you published on 30 March Col 884W and my Written Ministerial Statement of 17 March and reflects further verification and analysis work including that carried out with the National Audit Office.
	
		
			  Housing region  S1fC  S2fC  S3fC  S4fC  Not assessed  Total 
			   No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  No. 
			 East 1,930 40.55 2,599 54.61 213 4.47 17 0.36 1,618 6,377 
			 London 1,179 20.65 3,613 63.31 800 14.02 115 2.01 1,728 7,435 
			 North 2,092 52.55 1,750 43.96 112 2.81 27 0.68 1,400 5,381 
			 South East 2,797 35.47 4,631 58.73 345 4.37 112 1.42 1,737 9,622 
			 South West 2,255 27.04 5,664 67.92 344 4.13 76 0.91 1,953 10,292 
			 West (inc Wales) 1,338 45.34 1,518 51.44 89 3.02 6 0.20 910 3,861 
			 PFI Properties/Hirings 2,005 2,005 
			
			 Total 11,591 34.47 19,775 58.82 1,903 5.66 353 1.05 11,351 44,973 
		
	
	Data for the condition of Service Families Accommodation will be updated on a quarterly basis beginning from July 2009, and the information will be placed in the library of the house.

Armed Forces: Housing

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent steps his Department has taken to improve accommodation for service families;
	(2)  what recent steps his Department has taken to improve accommodation for service personnel.

Kevan Jones: This Department is committed to improving the standard of all service accommodation and in addition to the significant increase in investment in recent years. We plan to spend 8.4 billion over the next decade on accommodation, of which 3.1 billion will be on new-build and upgraded accommodation. As announced in the budget, 50 million is being brought forward to be spent on improving service accommodation.
	Since 2003, over 35,000 new or upgraded single living accommodation bed-spaces have been delivered, with a further 21,000 planned by 2013.
	Since 2001, over 13,000 service family accommodation properties have been upgraded to the top standard for condition with a further 800 planned in this and each financial year thereafter.
	In addition, thousands of SFA properties have benefited from improvements such as new boilers, bathrooms and kitchens, which have improved the living conditions for many service families.

Armed Forces: Housing

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 35-6W, on armed forces: housing, what discussions he has had with Modern Housing Solutions on the figures for numbers of married quarters by standard for condition in the Faithful and Gould survey carried out by Modern Housing Solutions.

Kevan Jones: The asset condition survey of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) in England and Wales was carried out in order to provide improved management information for reporting on the condition of the SFA estate, and to enable the Department to make improved planning decisions for future investment in the SFA estate.
	Although the results of this survey do not impact directly on the terms and conditions of the Housing Prime Contract with Modern Housing Solutions (MHS), officials have worked closely with MHS to ensure the accuracy and validity of the survey results.
	We continue to work closely with MHS, and its counterparts, to ensure that the standards of SFA continue to improve. Over 90 per cent. of our stock in England and Wales is already at the two highest standards for condition. Service families are no longer required to live in SFA at the lowest Standard for Condition, although some may chose to do so. From 2012 no families will have to live in properties at either of the two lowest Standards for Condition.
	We are committed to housing service personnel and their families in high quality accommodation.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what average pension is payable to a soldier who retired after 15 years in the British Army on 30 April 1997 as a sergeant in  (a) a Gurkha regiment and  (b) a regiment in the UK.

Kevan Jones: Pensions paid under the terms of the Gurkha Pension Scheme, which is now a closed scheme, are calculated in Indian currency rupees (ICR) and paid in Nepalese currency rupees (NCR). This is because the scheme retains a structural link to the Indian Army Pension Scheme and also has the benefit of protecting pensioners from fluctuations in the pounds sterling/NCR rates of exchange. Members of the scheme qualified for immediate payment of pension on completion of 15 years service.
	The current rate of pension for a former Gurkha soldier who retired in the rank of Sergeant on 30 April 1997, after 15 years service, is ICR 13,687.64 per month.
	Expressed in pounds sterling, at the 1 June 2009 exchange rate, this gives the following annual rates provided below.
	Gurkha Sergeant after 15 years: 2,149.56 a year, paid immediately on leaving the Army.
	A non-Gurkha soldier who was in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 1975 (AFPS 75), unlike his Gurkha counterpart, did not receive a pension until age 60, if he left after 15 years' service. The AFPS 75 pensions for a sergeant as calculated on the last day of service on 30 April 1997 is provided below.
	Sergeant after 15 years: Preserved pension of 4,162.13 a year.
	There would be no payment until age 60, at which point the pension calculated on the last day of service would be index linked by rises in the retail prices index over the period. While the Gurkha pension is lower it is paid from an earlier age and over a longer period and is therefore well suited to life in Nepal, where it provides an income that equates to a very good working wage.
	Gurkha soldiers on leaving the Army on 30 April 1997, on completion of 15 years service, would also have received lump sums, provided below in pounds sterling, but paid in NCR.
	
		
			  Gurkha sergeant 
			
			 Retirement gratuity 972.61 
			 Resettlement grant 3,201.54 
		
	
	A sergeant leaving the wider Army on 30 April 1997, on completion of 15 years service, would have received a resettlement grant of 6,218. In addition soldiers with a preserved pension receive a pension lump sum at age 60 of three times the sum of their uplifted pension.

Departmental Billing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1171W, on departmental billing, how much his Department's non-departmental public bodies paid in interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years.

Quentin Davies: The Ministry of Defence has five service museums classified as executive non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) that receive Grant in Aid from the Department. During the financial years 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08, no interest was paid by any of these under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
	This does not include any payments that may have been made by commercial trading arms associated with the museums as these are not funded from Grant in Aid and therefore outside of the remit of the Department.

Hebrides Range

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenditure has been incurred in respect of  (a) upgrading facilities and  (b) other purposes for missile testing facilities at (i) the Hebrides Range and (ii) each other such range in the UK in each of the last three years.

Quentin Davies: Three of the ranges operated by QinetiQ on behalf of the MOD under the terms of the Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) specialise in missile testingMOD Hebrides, MOD Aberporth and MOD West Freugh. Annual investment at each range since FY 2006-07 is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   
			Financial year 
			  Range  Expenditure  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 (to end Q1)( 1) 
			 MOD Hebrides LTPA Funded Equipment Investments 955,981 1,306,587 47,251 113,184 
			  Significant Estate Investments 210,000 1,800 530,441 132,990 
			  Non-LTPA Funded Equipment and Infrastructure 0 250,000 0 300,000 
			   
			 MOD Aberporth LTPA Funded Equipment Investments 25,809 6,268,027 95,043 2,260,970 
			  Significant Estate Investment 0 0 0 0 
			  Non-LTPA Funded Equipment and Infrastructure 0 0 0 0 
			   
			 MOD West Freugh LTPA Equipment Investments 12,257 41,731 28,933 85,753 
			  Significant Estate Investment 0 0 0 0 
			  Non-LTPA Funded Equipment and Infrastructure(2) 0 0 47,000 0 
			   
			 Multi-Site LTPA Funded Equipment Investments 0 1,408,167 8,002,125 1,083,225 
			 (1) Includes currently committed expenditure falling in-year. (2) Excludes commercially confidential expenditure by BAE Systems.

Military Aircraft: Training

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average number of aircraft of each type available for training purposes was in each year since 2001.

Quentin Davies: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
	 Substantive answer from Quentin Davies to  Liam  Fox:
	In my answer of 2 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 876-77W, I undertook to write to you about the number of aircraft available for training purposes in each year since 2001.
	MOD-owned aircraft held at flying training units are counted as part of the Forward Fleet. Training aircraft in depth maintenance are not considered to be available to undertake training.
	The average number of MOD-owned flying training aircraft in the Forward Fleet and therefore available for training purposes, rounded up to the nearest whole number, in each year since 2001 is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Financial year 
			  Aircraft type  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Hawk 60 60 60 60 60 60 50 50 
			 Tucano 74 74 74 74 74 74 52 52 
			 Jetstream T1 12 12 7 5 (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Jetstream T2 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 
			 Dominie 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 
			 Gliders 146 146 146 146 146 146 148 148 
			 (1 )Out of service. 
		
	
	Data for Bulldog aircraft which were retired in 2002 are no longer available. Contractor owned training aircraft are contracted for the delivery of flying hours, rather than a specific number of aircraft. It is up to the contractor to decide how many aircraft are required to deliver the required hours.
	All subsequent training on front-line aircraft types, including Conversion to Role, currency and pre-deployment training is achieved during routine flying hours at front-line command units, using aircraft that are also used for operational purposes.
	I hope this is helpful.

Piracy: Navy

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for New Forest, East of 22 June 2009,  Official Report, column 626W, on piracy, how many weapons of each type the Royal Navy has seized from suspected pirates in the last 12 months.

Bill Rammell: The Royal Navy has seized a total of 41 weapons during the boarding of pirate vessels in the past 12 months. These weapons consisted of 31 assault rifles, six rocket propelled grenades and four pistols.

RAF Fylingdales

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the agreement of 5 November 2007 between the Secretary of State for Defence and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to amend the boundaries of the land in the Register of Titles concerning RAF Fylingdales.

Kevan Jones: A copy of the agreement to amend the boundaries of the land in the Register of Titles concerning RAF Fylingdales is being obtained and will be placed in the Library of the House as soon as practicable.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 11 June 2009,  Official Report, column 234W, on children: protection, under what budgetary headings he expects the 57.8 million new spending to come.

Dawn Primarolo: The 57.8 million new investment together with the existing 73 million brings Government's investment in the children and families' social work workforce to 130 million between April 2008 and March 2011. This Social Work Transformation Fund is being used to fund children and families' social work workforce commitments made in The Children's Plan: Building Brighter Futures; Building Brighter Futures: Next Steps for the Children's Workforce and the Government's response to Lord Laming's The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report.
	The Transformation Fund will increase the capacity of the system to recruit, train and support social workers, and implement change in the immediate term. The Social Work Task Force, established by the Secretaries of State for Health and for Children, Schools and Families will make recommendations on any long term reform needed in the autumn.
	This funding is spent under budgetary heading RfR1: To help build a competitive economy and inclusive society by: creating opportunities for everyone to develop their learning; releasing potential in people to make the most of themselves; and achieving excellence in the standards of education and levels of skills.

Departmental Air Travel

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 477W, and pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2008,  Official Report, column 741W, on departmental air travel, what distance of air travel was offset by his Department in 2007-08; and what proportion of such travel was  (a) domestic,  (b) short-haul and  (c) long-haul.

Diana Johnson: The total distance of air travel used during 2007-08 to offset travel taken by Department for Children, Schools and Families was 1,790,103 km.
	The proportion of travel is broken down as follows:
	
		
			   km 
			  (a) Domestic 477,167 
			  (b) Short haul 289,996 
			  (c) Long haul 1,022,939 
		
	
	The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) were created as a result of the machinery of government changes in June 2007. The number of air miles used to calculate the DCSF payment for the 2007-08 also includes air travel for DIUS (former DfES staff only). To separate these data would involve disproportionate cost.

Departmental Billing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1239W, on departmental billing, how much each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies paid in interest to suppliers under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years.

Diana Johnson: The Department currently has nine non-departmental public bodies. They are independent organisations and records are not held centrally by the Department with regard to interest payments to suppliers under the Late Payment of Commercial Debt (Interest) Act 1998.

Departmental Mobile Phones

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many  (a) BlackBerry devices and  (b) mobile telephones have been lost by (i) Ministers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) civil servants in his Department and its predecessors in each year since 2005.

Diana Johnson: The number of items reported as lost, missing, or stolen are for civil servants and are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			   (i) Ministers  (ii) Special Advis e rs  (iii) Civil Servants 
			   (a)  Blackberry  (b)  Mobile phone  (a)  Blackberry  (b)  Mobile phone  (a)  Blackberry  (b)  Mobile phone 
			 2008-2009 16 1 
			 2007-2008 8 3 
			 2006-2007 3 1 
			 2005-2006 0 3 
			 2004-2005 0 6

Education Maintenance Allowance: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many young people received education maintenance allowance in each parliamentary constituency in the Lancashire County Council area in each year since the allowance's inception.

Iain Wright: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Geoffrey Russell, the LSC's Acting Chief Executive, will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.

Free School Meals

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which local authorities applied to participate in the free school meal pilots.

Diana Johnson: 34 local authorities expressed interest in taking part in the free school meal (FSM) pilot project which will begin in September. Of these, 29 were invited to submit full bids with 13 authorities submitting full bids. Seven wanted to pilot universal FSMs to all primary school children; five opted to pilot the extension of FSM eligibility; and one authority indicated that it would like to pilot either approach. 16 authorities indicated that they no longer wished to be considered for the scheme. Summaries of expressions of interest and full bids are listed as follows:
	 Expressions of interest :
	 Universal FSMs
	Liverpool
	Telford and Wrekin
	Knowsley
	Gateshead
	Durham
	Wakefield
	Rotherham
	Blackburn
	Brighton
	Dudley
	Newham
	Isle of Wight
	Kent.
	 Extension of FSM eligibility
	Wolverhampton
	Luton
	Croydon
	Halton
	West Sussex.
	 Either approach
	Reading
	Waltham Forest
	Bristol
	Sandwell
	Hillingdon
	Sunderland
	North Tyneside
	Cornwall
	Wigan
	Barnsley
	Barking
	Sheffield
	Haringey
	Bolton
	Oldham
	Tameside.
	 Summary of full bids :
	 Bids to run universal FSMs
	Dudley
	Durham
	Gateshead
	Newham
	Sandwell
	London borough of Barking and Dagenham
	Cornwall
	Bristol.
	 Bids to run extension of FSM eligibility
	Croydon
	Halton
	Barnsley
	Wolverhampton
	Sandwell
	London borough of Waltham Forest.
	 Decided not to submit a bid
	Knowsley
	Liverpool
	Rotherham
	Telford and Wrekin
	Wakefield
	Luton
	Haringey
	Hillingdon
	North Tyneside
	Oldham
	Reading
	Sunderland
	Wigan
	Tameside
	Blackburn and Darwen
	Brighton and Hove.

Pupil Exclusions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils in each local authority area received three or more fixed-period exclusions in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

School Choice

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what research he has commissioned on the effect on educational outcomes of levels of parental choice of school.

Diana Johnson: There is currently no research commissioned to specifically measure the impact of parental choice of school upon educational outcomes. We collect and publish data annually from local authorities on applications and offers of secondary school places. As these data are at local authority level and not at individual pupil level it is not possible to accurately use these data to measure impact.

Schools: Crimes of Violence

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of schools staff have been admitted to hospital as a result of violent behaviour by pupils in the last 12 months.

Vernon Coaker: The requested information is not held centrally by the Department. However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) collects data on physical injuries resulting from acts of violence suffered by people at work, reportable under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995. The data include injuries to staff resulting in more than three days absence from work, sustained from a physical assault.
	We intend to introduce new requirements on schools to record incidents of bullying between pupils, and incidents of verbal and physical abuse against school staff. We will consult on these new requirements in the autumn. We will also consult on whether schools should also be required to report these records to their local authority, and whether they should be required to record and report these incidents by type where the incident is motivated by a particular form of prejudice i.e. as racist, homophobic bullying incidents. We will introduce the new legislation in 2010.
	The table shows the provisional figures for injuries to school staff involving acts of violence reported to HSE in 2007/08.
	
		
			  Injuries to school staff( 1)  involving acts of violence( 2)  reported to HSE, 2007/08( 3) 
			  Occupation (SOC 2000)  Non-fatal major injuries  Over-three-day injuries  Total 
			 Secondary education teaching professionals 5 49 54 
			 Primary and nursery education teaching professionals 4 13 17 
			 Special needs education teaching professionals 5 28 33 
			 Teaching professionals n.e.c.(4) 12 60 72 
			 (1) Identified by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC2000). (2) Acts of violence are a reportable injury defined under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995. Only physical injuries resulting from acts of violence suffered by people at work are reportable under RIDDOR, physical injuries resulting from acts of violence suffered by members of the public are not reportable under RIDDOR.  There is no category in HSE's coding framework that specifically identifies the violent behaviour of school pupils. The data supplied use an agent classification from HSE's coding framework that categorises those 'persons receiving care', and this will include school pupils, but may also include social/health care clients or people in custody. (3) Provisional. (4) The SOC2000 handbook provides the following definition: 'Workers in this unit group perform a variety of other education and teaching functions not elsewhere classified in MINOR GROUP 231: Teaching Professionals.'

Schools: Finance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent research he has evaluated on the relationship between levels of funding for schools and pupils' academic performance.

Vernon Coaker: In recent years, the Department has sponsored a number of externally conducted research projects in this area. They are as follows:
	 1. Impact of School Resources on Attainment at Key Stage 2
	Helena Holmlund, Sandra McNally and Marina Viarengo
	http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction =productdetailsPageMode=publicationsProductId=DCSF-RR043
	 2. Estimating the Relationship between School Resources and Pupil Attainment at Key Stage 3
	Rosalind Levacic, Andrew Jenkins, Anna Vignoles, Fiona Steele and Rebecca Allen
	http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction= productdetailsPageMode=publicationsProductId=RR679
	 3. Resources and Attainment at Key Stage 4Estimates from a Dynamic Methodology
	Geoff Pugh and Jean Mangan
	http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction= productdetailsPageMode=publicationsProductId=DCSF-RR056
	 4. Estimating the Relationship between School Resources and Pupil Attainment at GCSE
	Andrew Jenkins, Rosalind Levacic
	http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction= productdetailsPageMode=publicationsProductId=RR727
	 5. Investigating the Effective Use of Resources in Secondary Schools
	Allan Dodd, Principal Consultant Hedra plc
	http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction= productdetailsPageMode=publicationsProductId=RR799
	 6. Analysis of Secondary School Efficiency: Final Report
	Professor Peter C. Smith and Dr. Andrew Street
	http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction= productdetailsPageMode=publicationsProductId=RR788
	 7. Tackling the Endogeneity Problem when Estimating the Relationship Between School Spending and Pupil Outcomes
	David Mayston
	http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction =productdetailsPageMode=publicationsProductId=RR328

Schools: Finance

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding his Department has allocated for enhancements to the Integrated Children's System in 2009-10; what criteria were used in determining such allocations; and how much of such funding has been passed to local authorities.

Dawn Primarolo: A capital grant of 6.4 million will be allocated to local authorities in 2009-10. This was announced by my Department on 22 June in a circular to all local authorities, which set out the practical steps the Government will take to help local authorities in improving their systems to support delivery of children's social care services. The circular described the broad terms under which this funding would be allocated. All authorities will be eligible for capital grant, and the grant will be available for use at local authorities' sole discretion for supporting any measures necessary to make improvements to current ICS implementations; making modifications to local systems consistent with the simplification of requirements; or progressing further with Phase 1C of the ICS Project in those local authorities that regard this as a priority.
	Full details of individual local authorities' allocations will be set out in a funding circular. Some 3 million of this will be allocated as a fixed amount to each authority, and the balance will be allocated according to a standard formula principally related to size of local child population.

Schools: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding has been allocated for the development of environmental education initiatives in schools in Tamworth constituency in 2009-10.

Diana Johnson: The Department does not allocate funding directly to support environmental education initiatives in specific schools. Environmental education is one of the key concepts for the study of geography in the new secondary curriculum and the Action Plan for Geography supports this, by providing professional development opportunities for teachers in the regions to help them embed sustainable development and environmental education in their classroom practice. We are also working with stakeholders, including the Government Office West Midlands and local authorities, to engage and support schools work towards the DCSF's Sustainable Schools strategy which aims for all schools to be sustainable by 2020. The strategy is guided by a commitment to care for the environment both locally and nationally and a national framework has been established to help schools identify areas on which they can focus to develop their sustainability practices.

Special Educational Needs: Per Capita Costs

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average cost of educating a pupil with special educational needs was in a  (a) special school,  (b) mainstream primary school and  (c) mainstream secondary school in the latest period for which figures are available.

Diana Johnson: The Department's records, based on financial data taken from local authorities' Section 52 Budget returns and the January 2008 School Census, estimate the average gross cost of educating a pupil with special educational needs (SEN) during the 2008 -09 financial year is as follows:
	
		
			  School type  Average cost per pupil with special educational needs () 
			 Special school 25,810 
			 Mainstream primary 5,500 
			 Mainstream secondary 6,490 
		
	
	These estimated figures include planned expenditure on provision for pupils with statements and the provision for non-statemented pupils with SEN.
	The special school figure differs from that given on 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 136W, to the hon. Member as the calculation of that figure was based only on the Individual School Budget for special schools.
	The above special school figure includes other additional costs often incurred by local authorities, such as support for inclusion, inter authority recoupment, fees for pupils at independent special schools, educational psychology services, local authority functions in relation to child protection, therapies and other health-related services, parent partnership, guidance and information, the monitoring of SEN provision and inclusion administration, and assessment and co-ordination. Hence the higher figure. The above figure does however exclude any allowance for SEN related transport costs.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Dairy Farming

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects on dairy farmers in  (a) England and  (b) West Derbyshire of the failure of Dairy Farmers UK; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 26 June 2009
	Dairy Farmers of Britain had 1,800 farmer members when they went into receivership on 3 June. Over 96 per cent. of their milk has found new outlets. On 17 June, 190 farmer members, including several in Derbyshire, had yet to find a new buyer, and the receiver was continuing to collect their milk.

Flood Control: Finance

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to publish the results of the first round of bids for funding under his Department's property-level protection grant schemes.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The results for the first round of grants to help people protect their homes against flooding were announced by the Secretary of State on 25 June.

Livestock

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many livestock farms there were in each county in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of livestock holdings by county/unitary authority in England 1997 to 2008 is shown on the following tables. Livestock holdings are those holding types where livestock is the main activity and cover dairy, specialist pigs, specialist poultry, grazing livestock in both lowland and less favoured areas and mixed holdings. Holdings designated as mixed are included as these are holdings with a mixture of crops and livestock where neither activity is dominant.
	Figures prior to 2000 include main holdings only; from 2000 onwards all holdings are included.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of holdings where livestock is the predominant activity 1997-2002 
			  Counties/unitary authorities  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002 
			 Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees 92 85 93 91 93 97 
			 South Teesside 98 97 97 101 114 113 
			 Darlington 105 105 102 101 89 89 
			 Durham CC 1,290 1,249 1,269 1,259 1,132 1,314 
			 Northumberland 1,589 1,542 1,592 1,504 1,367 1,482 
			 Tyneside 66 61 65 65 76 79 
			 Sunderland 13 13 15 14 15 14 
			 West Cumbria 1,643 1,619 1,626 1,621 1,085 1,587 
			 East Cumbria 3,621 3,582 3,542 3,428 2,473 3,358 
			 Halton and Warrington 57 56 60 60 60 61 
			 Cheshire CC 2,513 2,470 2,461 2,461 2,463 2,498 
			 Greater Manchester South 169 162 173 179 193 194 
			 Greater Manchester North 544 537 521 520 553 557 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 142 137 132 131 137 143 
			 Blackpool * * * 6 7 8 
			 Lancashire CC 3,057 3,027 2,991 3,121 3,113 3,174 
			 East Merseyside 36 37 34 36 37 42 
			 Liverpool * * * * * 5 
			 Sefton 17 18 16 14 19 24 
			 Wirral 41 38 41 45 50 51 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of * * * * * * 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 787 752 750 792 804 840 
			 North and North East Lincolnshire 145 158 147 182 209 217 
			 York 124 124 122 127 132 134 
			 North Yorkshire CC 4,945 4,925 4,936 5,009 4,892 5,124 
			 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham 447 419 418 460 496 512 
			 Sheffield 157 155 151 161 169 179 
			 Bradford 448 442 439 462 494 510 
			 Leeds 229 220 221 229 229 246 
			 Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield 1,017 1,013 1,000 1,098 1,164 1,212 
			 Derby 15 15 17 10 12 13 
			 East Derbyshire 409 400 398 424 449 451 
			 South and West Derbyshire 2,137 2,110 2,117 2,036 2,122 2,167 
			 Nottingham * * * * 5 5 
			 North Nottinghamshire 356 362 352 411 438 460 
			 South Nottinghamshire 225 225 226 252 262 262 
			 Leicester * * * * * * 
			 Leicestershire CC and Rutland 1,490 1,433 1,437 1,388 1,445 1,480 
			 Northamptonshire 888 865 853 921 926 928 
			 Lincolnshire 944 946 950 1,047 1,143 1,235 
			 Herefordshire, County of 2,136 2,112 2,090 2,197 1,969 2,075 
			 Worcestershire 1,435 1,412 1,426 1,471 1,401 1,512 
			 Warwickshire 1,147 1,139 1,137 1,167 1,143 1,150 
			 Telford and Wrekin 107 108 111 124 136 136 
			 Shropshire CC 3,048 3,010 3,040 3,117 3,072 3,176 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 33 33 33 30 34 40 
			 Staffordshire CC 3,066 3,017 2,990 3,014 3,003 3,117 
			 Birmingham 11 10 13 12 9 10 
			 Solihull 114 111 115 109 108 108 
			 Coventry 28 27 30 33 33 37 
			 Dudley and Sandwell 19 20 23 22 21 23 
			 Walsall and Wolverhampton 25 20 25 26 23 21 
			 Peterborough 26 29 28 27 32 42 
			 Cambridgeshire CC 318 321 314 326 387 419 
			 Norfolk 1,228 1,272 1,246 1,368 1,523 1,613 
			 Suffolk 857 851 863 967 1,024 1,088 
			 Luton * * * * * * 
			 Bedfordshire CC 244 243 239 244 275 298 
			 Hertfordshire 333 330 315 325 371 379 
			 Southend-on-Sea * * * 0 0 0 
			 Thurrock 39 40 36 35 40 41 
			 Essex CC 630 627 617 666 773 797 
			 Inner Londonwest 0 0 0 0 * * 
			 Inner Londoneast * * * * * 8 
			 Outer Londoneast and north-east 29 27 24 28 30 33 
			 Outer Londonsouth 38 37 40 29 35 34 
			 Outer Londonwest and north-west 37 38 39 35 36 33 
			 Berkshire 335 349 348 324 339 348 
			 Milton Keynes 75 84 81 78 80 80 
			 Buckinghamshire CC 807 811 844 793 821 823 
			 Oxfordshire 815 819 850 858 903 926 
			 Brighton and Hove 9 11 11 12 11 11 
			 East Sussex CC 1,174 1,181 1,235 1,177 1,249 1,289 
			 Surrey 681 662 697 683 750 775 
			 West Sussex 825 804 805 774 844 868 
			 Portsmouth * * * * * * 
			 Southampton 10 11 12 9 14 13 
			 Hampshire CC 1,187 1,212 1,258 1,265 1,382 1,438 
			 Isle of Wight 255 262 267 251 272 275 
			 Medway 15 18 18 19 23 25 
			 Kent CC 1,366 1,343 1,416 1,433 1,512 1,612 
			 Bristol, City of 7 6 7 13 17 16 
			 N. and N.E. Somerset, South Glos. 1,145 1,123 1,133 1,180 1,232 1,253 
			 Gloucestershire 1,910 1,881 1,894 1,939 1,779 1,984 
			 Swindon 87 86 86 83 92 95 
			 Wiltshire CC 1,544 1,508 1,516 1,540 1,608 1,651 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 15 14 16 15 16 14 
			 Dorset CC 1,892 1,865 1,865 1,919 1,962 1,966 
			 Somerset 3,566 3,488 3,533 3,656 3,740 3,840 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 4,407 4,304 4,262 4,304 4,331 4,391 
			 Plymouth 27 23 22 13 15 15 
			 Torbay 26 23 23 21 23 23 
			 Devon CC 8,202 8,062 8,068 7,655 7,118 7,809 
			 England 75,210 74,204 74,442 75,169 74,095 78,608 
			  Notes: 1. Livestock holdings are those holding types where livestock is the main activity. Holdings designated as mixed are also included, these are holdings with a mixture of crops and livestock where neither activity is dominant. 2. * denotes data that have been suppressed to protect the confidentiality of individual holdings. 3. Data for 1997 are for main holdings only. From 2000 onwards all holdings are included.  Source:  June Agriculture Survey 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of holdings where livestock is the predominant activity 2003 to 2008 
			  Counties/unitary authorities  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees 96 101 100 94 84 77 
			 South Teesside 114 121 119 109 108 102 
			 Darlington 89 96 100 92 93 89 
			 Durham CC 1,321 1,317 1,332 1,305 1,277 1,294 
			 Northumberland 1,481 1,469 1,498 1,499 1,479 1,458 
			 Tyneside 75 80 89 78 89 81 
			 Sunderland 13 14 18 13 20 19 
			 West Cumbria 1,584 1,589 1,586 1,623 1,541 1,559 
			 East Cumbria 3,347 3,304 3,305 3,282 3,277 3,278 
			 Halton and Warrington 69 74 77 67 55 56 
			 Cheshire CC 2,473 2,496 2,481 2,420 2,285 2,272 
			 Greater Manchester South 197 196 192 180 172 181 
			 Greater Manchester North 554 555 559 553 485 494 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 141 140 139 145 133 136 
			 Blackpool 8 9 10 8 7 8 
			 Lancashire CC 3,129 3,125 3,156 3,061 2,969 3,012 
			 East Merseyside 40 40 45 35 38 38 
			 Liverpool * * 5 * 5 5 
			 Sefton 24 23 25 24 17 19 
			 Wirral 51 52 51 48 41 41 
			 Kingston Upon Hull, City of * * * * * * 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 848 880 891 834 835 837 
			 North And North East Lincolnshire 212 218 220 209 212 212 
			 York 134 128 131 124 127 127 
			 North Yorkshire CC 5,129 5,161 5,143 5,052 4,975 4,981 
			 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham 516 527 524 477 444 455 
			 Sheffield 183 189 197 188 173 170 
			 Bradford 516 523 526 510 492 499 
			 Leeds 251 252 247 229 213 217 
			 Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield 1,214 1,220 1,228 1,177 1,110 1,137 
			 Derby 15 14 14 18 10 14 
			 East Derbyshire 451 448 453 415 417 409 
			 South and West Derbyshire 2,176 2,192 2,216 2,197 2,096 2,104 
			 Nottingham 6 8 9 7 * * 
			 North Nottinghamshire 440 461 486 460 453 446 
			 South Nottinghamshire 254 247 257 250 233 228 
			 Leicester * * 6 * * * 
			 Leicestershire CC and Rutland 1,476 1,460 1,478 1,406 1,333 1,331 
			 Northamptonshire 928 927 933 896 891 892 
			 Lincolnshire 1,231 1,299 1,363 1,294 1,289 1,303 
			 Herefordshire, County of 2,099 2,127 2,120 2,107 2,027 2,018 
			 Worcestershire 1,507 1,526 1,528 1,450 1,374 1,381 
			 Warwickshire 1,141 1,142 1,149 1,098 1,075 1,094 
			 Telford and Wrekin 139 145 147 150 131 136 
			 Shropshire CC 3,149 3,165 3,204 3,117 3,027 2,996 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 38 42 41 50 35 39 
			 Staffordshire CC 3,086 3,077 3,066 2,948 2,795 2,801 
			 Birmingham 9 10 11 11 9 10 
			 Solihull 103 104 104 98 91 95 
			 Coventry 36 39 38 40 32 29 
			 Dudley and Sandwell 27 31 32 21 21 21 
			 Walsall and Wolverhampton 20 19 19 17 19 17 
			 Peterborough 44 46 52 41 36 36 
			 Cambridgeshire CC 432 468 495 445 435 435 
			 Norfolk 1,635 1,732 1,821 1,660 1,637 1,629 
			 Suffolk 1,112 1,157 1,193 1,104 1,061 1,087 
			 Luton * * 5 * * * 
			 Bedfordshire CC 307 326 333 283 277 279 
			 Hertfordshire 380 383 403 369 328 329 
			 Southend-on-Sea * * * * * * 
			 Thurrock 42 42 40 42 33 35 
			 Essex CC 818 846 878 765 738 769 
			 Inner Londonwest * 5 6 5 * * 
			 Inner Londoneast 8 8 9 8 8 8 
			 Outer Londoneast and north-east 33 36 34 27 29 29 
			 Outer Londonsouth 35 34 34 26 28 27 
			 Outer Londonwest and north-west 36 40 44 39 34 34 
			 Berkshire 351 376 406 359 335 339 
			 Milton Keynes 84 81 79 79 69 67 
			 Buckinghamshire CC 839 863 868 810 780 818 
			 Oxfordshire 911 905 924 913 843 854 
			 Brighton and Hove 11 11 11 11 8 8 
			 East Sussex CC 1304 1330 1331 1292 1246 1282 
			 Surrey 778 775 797 720 666 656 
			 West Sussex 879 875 902 873 839 846 
			 Portsmouth * * * * * * 
			 Southampton 13 13 14 11 9 10 
			 Hampshire CC 1,498 1,546 1,574 1,485 1,429 1,457 
			 Isle of Wight 287 289 287 275 261 265 
			 Medway 30 35 37 32 29 32 
			 Kent CC 1,666 1,727 1,764 1,684 1,614 1,655 
			 Bristol, City of 20 24 24 24 26 26 
			 N. and N.E. Somerset, South Glos. 1,246 1,256 1,258 1,214 1,146 1,142 
			 Gloucestershire 1,987 1,987 2,028 1,945 1,893 1,874 
			 Swindon 93 89 81 81 64 63 
			 Wiltshire CC 1,644 1,633 1,647 1,593 1,515 1,516 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 16 17 19 16 15 13 
			 Dorset CC 1,979 1,985 1,990 1,949 1,863 1,868 
			 Somerset 3,835 3,813 3,840 3,757 3,660 3,692 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 4,386 4,367 4,358 4,255 3,912 3,923 
			 Plymouth 15 19 20 20 14 15 
			 Torbay 23 25 28 26 28 32 
			 Devon CC 7,787 7,773 7,854 7,628 7,334 7,285 
			 England 78,724 79,339 80,166 77,370 74,372 74,673 
			  Notes:  1. Livestock holdings are those holding types where livestock is the main activity. Holdings designated as mixed are also included, these are holdings with a mixture of crops and livestock where neither activity is dominant.  2. * denotes data that have been suppressed to protect the confidentiality of individual holdings.  Source:  June Agriculture Survey

National Parks: Wildlife

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the designation of an area as a National Park on the level of wildlife in that area.

Huw Irranca-Davies: No comprehensive assessment has been made of the effect of the designation of an area as a National Park on the level of wildlife.

Pesticides Safety Directorate

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was paid in bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in the Pesticides Safety Directorate in each of the last five years.

Dan Norris: In the last four financial years from 2005-06 to 2008-09 the total amount paid to Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) staff in bonuses was as follows:
	
		
			   
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			  (a) Directors(1) 15,967 20,467 27,545 12,728 
			  (b) Senior Managers(2) 10,951 3,413 4,866 10,341 
			  (c) Specialist and delivery managers(3) 33,218 51,045 56,615 27,128 
			  (d) Executive support and admin staff(4) 9,293 9,643 7,027 2,666 
			 Total 69,429 84,568 96,053 52,863 
			 (1) Defined here as staff at senior civil service or grade 6 level. (2) Defined here as staff at grade 7 level (includes managers in policy, science, technical and administrative areas). (3) Defined here as all staff in grades executive/scientific officer to senior executive/scientific officer. (4) Defined here as all staff in grades administrative officer and administrative assistant.  Notes: 1. Data for the period 2004-05 are not available due to systems changes. 2. PSD transferred to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 1 April 2008, and merged with other HSE teams to form the Chemicals Regulation Directorate on 1 April 2009.

Veterinary Medicines Agency: Consultants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Veterinary Medicines Agency spent on consultants in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Veterinary Medicines Directorate spent the following amount on consultants in each of the last five years.
	
		
			
			 2004-05 240,000 
			 2005-06 184,000 
			 2006-07 215,000 
			 2007-08 259,000 
			 2008-09 256,000. 
		
	
	These consultants were engaged to provide additional IT support for the development and maintenance of IT systems and additional scientific expertise to ensure that the assessment of applications for marketing authorisations is completed within the target time scales.

Water: National Security

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect on the publication of the Basingstoke Water Cycle report of the interpretation of the national security circular in relation to water assets.

Huw Irranca-Davies: This Department provides guidance to water asset owners and operators on a range of security issues, including the release of information that may impact on the physical security of those assets and on national security. Guidance is generally delivered in the form of thematic Advice Notes issued under the provisions of the Security and Emergency Measures Direction 1998. That guidance is developed in conjunction with the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure.
	In some instances, the owner or operator of a water asset may decide, on the basis of the guidance, that information should be withheld from publication on grounds of national security. We understand that in the case of the Basingstoke Water Cycle report, the water asset owner has referred to our guidance in requesting that certain information be withheld from wider public circulation.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Acceptable Behaviour Contracts: Enfield

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many acceptable behaviour contracts have been made in  (a) the London Borough of Enfield and  (b) Enfield North constituency in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The number of acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) is collected by the Home Office through a voluntary survey of crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs) use of antisocial behaviour tools and powers. The latest data published indicate that over 30,000 ABCs have been made between October 2003 and September 2007, with over 2,958 issued in Greater London during the same period. Currently, data on the number of ABCs issued are not available below regional level.

Antisocial Behaviour: West Midlands

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many breaches of antisocial behaviour orders have been recorded in  (a) Tamworth constituency,  (b) Staffordshire and  (c) the West Midlands in each year since the inception of such orders;
	(2)  how many breaches of antisocial behaviour orders have resulted in a criminal conviction in  (a) Tamworth constituency,  (b) Staffordshire and  (c) the West Midlands in each year since the inception of such orders.

Alan Campbell: Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) became available from 1 April 1999. ASBO breach data are available for ASBOs issued between 1 June 2000 and 31 December 2006 (latest available) and are not compiled below criminal justice system (CJS) area level. Information collected centrally on the number of breaches of ASBOs only counts those instances where the breach of the ASBO was proven in court.
	The number of occasions in each year on which ASBOs were proven in court to have been breached in the Staffordshire and the West Midlands CJS areas is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of occasions in the Staffordshire and the West Midlands criminal justice system areas( 1)  where persons were proven in court to have breached their antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) in each year between 1 June 2000 and 31 December 2006 
			  CJS area  2000-02( 2)  2003  2004  2005  2006  1 June 2000 to 31 December 2006 
			 Staffordshire 10 19 40 62 68 199 
			 West Midlands 112 137 344 488 408 1,489 
			 (1) ASBOs may be issued in one area and breached in another. Breaches are counted in this table by area of breach. (2) From 1 June 2000.  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: OCJR Court Proceedings Database.

Asylum

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has conducted on the social effects of the  (a) distribution of and  (b) number of unsupported refused asylum seekers without the right to work; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Department has not conducted such research. It is not our policy to allow asylum seekers to work because we believe that managed migration is a valuable source of skills and labour to the British economy and there are recognised routes into the UK for those seeking to work.

Asylum: Bahrain

Ken Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1459W, on asylum: Bahrain, which sources of evidence the UK Border Agency used in making decisions on asylum applications from Bahraini citizens in the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency uses a variety of published and reputable sources of information in making decisions. I cannot list all those which may have been referred to by the agency's decision-makers over the past five years, but the body of information includes reports from various Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UNHCR, the annual US Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices and the UK Government's own agencies.

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent by his Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force.

Phil Woolas: My Department does not contract directly for these inspections but procures them as part of building maintenance services through wider Facilities Management or operational service contractors. Our contractors plan to carry out these inspections as soon as possible after their engineers have become appropriately qualified to do so.

Departmental Air Conditioning

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of his Department's buildings are equipped with air conditioning systems with greater than 250kW of output; how many of these systems have been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each inspection report.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 30 April 2009
	Inspections have been planned by our building facilities management service providers around the availability of appropriately trained engineers able to undertake the task.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions from offices in his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Phil Woolas: The following table provides a breakdown for carbon dioxide emissions from key offices in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08. Full-time equivalent figures for these offices are not available.
	
		
			  Carbon dioxide emissions from key offices 
			   Tonnes 
			 2006-07 38,889 
			 2007-08 40,353 
		
	
	Central Government Departments and their Executive agencies are required to report performance data on their carbon emissions for their office estate annually as part of the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) reporting process.
	The latest assessment of Government's performance against these targets was published by the Sustainable Development Commission on 12 December 2008
	http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/sdig2008/

Departmental Carbon Emissions

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from road-based transport used for administrative operations by his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Phil Woolas: The data on operational road travel, as published in the Sustainable Development in Government reports 2006-07 and 2007-08, are as follows:
	
		
			  Tonnes of CO 2 
			   Operational road travel emissions  Emissions per FTE 
			 2006-07 9,632 0.13 
			 2007-08 6,360 0.34 
		
	
	Due to the machinery of government changes, resulting in the transfer of staff from the Home Office to Ministry of Justice, it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons between these years.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff in his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Phil Woolas: The data on air travel are as follows:
	
		
			  Tonnes of CO 2 
			   Air travel emissions  Emissions per FTE 
			 2006-07 1,800 0.025 
			 2007-08 2,206 0.118 
		
	
	These data cover some business areas that are now part of Ministry of Justice. The Home Office off-sets carbon dioxide emissions from official air travel through the Government Carbon off-setting scheme.

Departmental Correspondence

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of letters to his Department from hon. Members' Parliamentary offices were answered within 30 days of the date of receipt in each quarter from January 2008 to March 2009.

Phil Woolas: I am happy to respond to the question, especially given our diligence on this matter.
	The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members correspondence. The report for 2008 was published on 2 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 80-86WS.

Departmental Electricity

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the percentage of electricity used by his Department which was derived from renewable sources in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Phil Woolas: The following table provides a breakdown for what percentage of renewable energy was consumed in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 by the Department, as previously reported:
	
		
			  Electricity derived from renewable sources 
			   Percentage 
			 2006-07 29.6 
			 2007-08 66 
		
	
	The data cover some business areas that are now part of Ministry of Justice.
	Central Government Departments and their executive agencies are required to report performance data on their energy consumption for their office estate annually as part of the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) reporting process.
	The latest assessment of Government's performance against these targets was published by the Sustainable Development Commission on 12 December 2008:
	http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/sdig2008/

Departmental Energy

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the energy consumed per full-time equivalent member of staff in his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Phil Woolas: The following table provides a breakdown for how much energy was consumed at key offices in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08. Full-time equivalent figures are not available.
	
		
			   Energy (kWh) 
			 2006-07 1,525,325,482 
			 2007-08 99,866,124 
		
	
	Each of the reported years includes a different mix of buildings some of which are now part of the Ministry of Justice. This makes direct comparisons difficult.
	Central Government Departments and their Executive agencies are required to report performance data on their energy consumption for their office estate annually as part of the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) reporting process.
	The latest assessment of Government's performance against these targets was published by the Sustainable Development Commission on 12 December 2008
	http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/sdig2008/

Departmental Stationery

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of office supplies purchased by his Department were recycled products in the latest period for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: Home Office policy is that all printer and copier paper purchased is from recycled sources. Overall for the last 12 months, for the core Home Office and the UK Border Agency, the proportions are given in the following table:
	
		
			  Purchasing classification  Proportion (percentage) 
			 Paper products one (April 2008 to March 2009) 46 
			 General stationery(1) (June 2008 to April 2009 28 
			 Computer consumables(1) (June 2008 to January 2009) 0 
			 (1) The Department's purchasing classification of paper products includes recycled copier paper and certain non-paper products from the same supplier. General stationery and computer consumables also include non-paper products such as toner cartridges.

Departmental Waste

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the amount of waste arising from his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Phil Woolas: The following table provides a breakdown for waste arisings from our key buildings in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08. Full-time equivalent figures for these buildings are not available.
	
		
			   Waste arisings (tonnes)( 1) 
			 2006-07 16,985 
			 2007-08 2,989 
			 (1) Taken from Sustainable Development in Government Report.  Note: Data for 2006-07 include Prison Service.

Departmental Water

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of water consumption on his Department's office estate in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07, (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Phil Woolas: The estimated data for key buildings are set out in the table. Full-time equivalent figures for these buildings are not available.
	These are the data supplied for the annual Sustainable Development in Government questionnaire in each of the years as requested at that time.
	
		
			   Water consumption (M( 3) ) 
			 2005-06 (excludes Prison Service) 246,474 
			 2006-07 (includes Prison Service) 8,380,201

Detainees: Children

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the UK's level of compliance with the standards for the detention of children established by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in respect of immigration removal centres.

Phil Woolas: Detention of children takes place because of the desire not to separate children from parents who have flagrantly abused the immigration laws. The detention of children under Immigration Act powers complies with the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
	A statutory Code of Practice for Keeping Children Safe from Harm was introduced in January and sets out the key principles governing how the Agency treats children, especially in detention. The Code is due to be replaced by a statutory duty to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children in the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill.

Educational Accreditation Bodies

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts his Department has with educational accreditation bodies.

Phil Woolas: The Home Department has no contracts with educational accreditation bodies.

Entry Clearances

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations his Department has received from the English Language Training sector regarding visa regulations.

Phil Woolas: UKBA has recently received the letter from the hon. Member for Torbay addressed to myself, enclosing correspondence from one of the Member's constituents who runs an English language school, and expressing concerns about the impact of the new student visa arrangements upon the business of language schools in the Torbay area and on the UK economy. I will be replying to that letter in the near future.
	UKBA has received no other recent representations from the English language education sector on visa arrangements, aside from queries about the operation of the new system from individual providers. This sector was fully consulted during the development of the proposals which have led to the introduction of the PBS Tier 4 immigration provisions for students, and the student visitor provisions, and is represented at the regular meetings of UKBA's Joint Education Taskforce (JET), where all aspects of the provisions continue to be discussed.

Entry Clearances

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms there are to ensure the standardisation between offices of procedures for the processing of applications for visas for leave to remain in the UK.

Phil Woolas: Within UKBA standard application procedures apply for both its in country and out of country operations. It has published service standards for all types of applications. These standards indicate the expected time taken to process an application by type and apply across all locations.
	Service standards are published on the UKBA website.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultation his Department carried out on proposals affecting student visas before the recent changes to the regulations were made.

Phil Woolas: Tier 4, the student tier of the Points Based System (PBS), was introduced on 31 March 2009 and was the culmination of the extensive changes to the immigration system first announced in 2004. Before introducing these changes, we consulted widely and in July 2005 published a consultation document: Selective Admission: Making Migration Work for Britain; this consultation ran for an extended period until November 2005.
	The Joint Education Taskforce (JET) is the UK Border Agency's principal mechanism for consultation with the education sector. The JET was also established in 2005 and comprises senior figures and representative bodies from all parts of the education sector and it and its sub-groups continue to meet on a regular basis. In July 2008 we published Students under the Points Based System(Tier 4) Statement of Intent. While this was not a further consultation, we welcomed comments from stakeholders affected by the changes proposed which were incorporated where appropriate. Both documents are available in the House Library.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed to conduct sponsor inspections under the Tier 4 regulations on immigration; and what training has been provided by his Department for such post-holders.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 19 June 2009
	The UK Border Agency currently employs 125 staff nationally to conduct visits to sponsors and prospective sponsors under the Points Based System which includes Tier 4.
	All visiting staff receive ongoing training and development on and off the job to enable them to carry out their duties in a professional and effective manner.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether guidance issued by his Department on Tier 4 immigration regulations is publicly available.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 22 June 2009
	Policy guidance on Tier 4 policy, which expands on the immigration rules provides the evidential requirements a migrant must meet is published, as is the Points Based Sponsor guidance which provides the evidential requirements a sponsor must meet. These documents are on the UK Border Agency website.
	The Tier 4 caseworking instructions, which provide step by step process instructions to assessing officers as to how to physically consider an application, are currently being considered for publication.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether student visa applications made before 31 March 2009 are determined in accordance with the immigration rules in force at that time.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 22 June 2009
	Yes. Student visa applications submitted prior to 31 March 2009 are determined under the immigration rules in force at that time.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect on visa application rates of the requirement under the Tier 4 rules on immigration for certified translations of all documents.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 22 June 2009
	The requirement for certified translations of all documents does not appear so far to have had a significant effect on application rates. However, as Tier 4 of the Points Based System was only introduced on 31 March 2009, it is too early to draw any definitive conclusions.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason students under Tier 4 of the points-based immigration system may not undertake a paid or unpaid work experience or internship as part of their course of study.

Phil Woolas: Students under Tier 4 of the Points Based System may undertake a work placement as part of their course, as long as it is an assessed part of the course and the work placement does not equate to more than 50 per cent. of the length of the course in the United Kingdom. In addition, students can undertake a work placement where their course includes a legal (statutory) requirement for this.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the new online system for the registration of overseas students to be in operation.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 25 June 2009
	The next stage of the online system for the registration of overseas students will be launched in autumn 2009. The roll-out of the new system will be complete by the end of March 2010.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has made an assessment of the effects on the integration of non-EU domiciled students of requiring academic institutions to register their attendance.

Phil Woolas: All academic institutions have their own procedures in place to be able to monitor their students' attendance both to ensure their continued progress on a course but also to fulfil their duty of care. The reporting requirements placed on institutions as part of their sponsor duties under Tier 4 are sufficiently robust to ensure that students who are no longer attending are reported to the UK Border Agency, while also being sufficiently flexible to allow for the different ways in which institutions monitor student attendance.

Entry Clearances: Sri Lanka

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for  (a) visas and  (b) leave to remain from Sri Lankan nationals his Department has under consideration.

Phil Woolas: There are 1,957 Sri Lankan nationals who are currently awaiting a decision on their applications for Leave to Remain.
	During May 2009, we received 3,424 visa applications from Sri Lankan nationals.

Immigration

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for indefinite leave to remain in the UK remained to be processed seven years or more after the date of application at the end of 2008.

Phil Woolas: At the end of 2008 there were 13 applications that remain to be processed seven or more years after the date of application.

Immigration Controls

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which countries the UK Border Agency operates points of entry campaigns explaining UK immigration and asylum policy.

Phil Woolas: Detailed guidance on the requirements to be met by foreign nationals who wish to enter the UK is available from all UK Border Agency Visa Application Centres and Visa Sections overseas, and on central and local websites. Call centres are also in operation in many locations.

Immigration Controls: Voluntary Work

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people of each nationality have been refused entry to the UK at ports and airports on the grounds that they intended to carry out voluntary work during their stay since the Tier 5 volunteer worker category of the points-based immigration system was introduced.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 25 June 2009
	It is not possible to provide definitive figures on the number or nationality of those refused entry on the grounds that they intended to carry out voluntary work during their stay. This information can be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

Immigration: Deportation

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether individuals deported by the UK Border Agency are accompanied by officials on their removal from the UK.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency staff do not accompany individuals removed or deported on their departure from the UK. However, the Agency uses contractors to facilitate overseas removal who do, from time to time, accompany individuals deported from the UK.

Members: Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the visa enquiry office of the Islamabad consulate plans to reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West's correspondence of 24 April 2009, on his constituent Mr U. Malik.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency (Visa Services) replied to the hon. Member on 11 June 2009.

Migration

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which of the recommendations relating to migration made by the Home Affairs Committee between 2005 and 2007 have been implemented by his Department; how many such recommendations he plans to implement; and what recent steps he has taken to implement such recommendations;
	(2)  when he plans to answer Question 269301, tabled on 1 April 2009, on implementation of recommendations of the Home Affairs Committee relating to migration.

Phil Woolas: In October 2007 the Home Office provided the Home Affairs Select Committee with a progress report on implementing the accepted recommendations in the report HC775. The Government responded to the Committee's report on Justice and Home Affairs Issues at European Union Level on (HC76-I) on 11 October 2007.

Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how applications for regulation have been received by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner in each year from 2001.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 19 June 2009
	The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) is an Executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Home Office, and receives and deals with applications from advisers. The number of applications received are as follows:
	
		
			   Number of initial applications received( 1) 
			 2001-02 785 
			 2002-03 779 
			 2003-04 271 
			 2004-05 329 
			 2005-06 255 
			 2006-07 255 
			 2007-08 188 
			 2008-09 227 
			 (1) Applications are made by an organisation rather than an individual adviser.

Overseas Students

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information his Department holds on the number of educational establishments which  (a) accepted non-EU students,  (b) were inspected and  (c) passed inspection in 2007.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 11 May 2009
	The Home Office does not hold this information.
	Since the launch of tier 4 of the PBS on 31 March 2009, educational establishments wishing to bring non-EEA national students to the UK are required to hold a sponsor licence, which can only be obtained by establishments that are either publicly funded and subject to the system of public inspections and audits, or private institutions that are accredited by a UK Border Agency-approved accreditation body. Around 1,500 institutions are currently registered to bring students to the UK. We estimated that around 4,000 institutions were active in bringing non-EEA students to the UK prior to the introduction of tier 4 of the points-based system.

Overseas Visitors: Jordan

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Jordanian nationals visited the UK in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008.

Phil Woolas: The latest available statistics on the number of Jordanian nationals given leave to enter the United Kingdom as visitors are for 2007. These are published in table 2.3 of the Home Office publication Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2007. This and future publications may be obtained from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	The statistics are based on landing card information and may include the same individuals more than once if they visited the United Kingdom on multiple occasions in the period.
	Data for 2008 are scheduled for publication in August 2009.

Police: Greater London

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in which boroughs in London the number of police officers will be reduced in the next 12 months as a result of the application of the Metropolitan Police resource allocation formula; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: The allocation of resources by the Metropolitan Police Service to the London borough operational command units is a matter for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).
	I understand that the resource allocation formula used by the MPS and the MPA to allocate resources to boroughs is kept under review.

Public Order Offences

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of  (a) abandoned vehicles,  (b) animal problems,  (c) hoax calls to emergency services,  (d) malicious communications,  (e) noise,  (f) rowdy or nuisance behaviour by neighbours,  (g) rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour in public,  (h) street drinking,  (i) substance misuse,  (j) trespass,  (k) inappropriate use or sale of fireworks,  (l) begging or vagrancy and  (m) hate incidents, as defined by the National Incident Category List, were recorded by each police force in 2007-08.

Alan Johnson: The data requested are shown in the tables. The data are normally used for management information only and are not subject to the detailed checks that apply for National Statistics publications. The data are provisional and may be subject to change.
	As part of the reviews of the burdens the Home Office places on police forces, the National Incident Category List has been simplified for 2009, with a 33 per cent,. reduction in complexity, leading to a significant decrease in the data demand placed on forces.
	
		
			  2007-08 
			   Abandoned vehicles (not stolen or causing an obstruction)  Animal problems  Hoax calls to emergency services  Malicious communications  Noise  Rowdy/  nuisanceneighbours  Rowdy/  nuisancerowdy or inconsiderate behaviour( 1) 
			 F01 Avon and Somerset 2,760 3,088 4,607 3,833 2,137 5,408 63,903 
			 F02 Bedfordshire 3,491 565 1,116 1,318 243 3,011 23,117 
			 F03 Cambridgeshire 3,988 39 764 3,336 1,800 4,144 35,360 
			 F04 Cheshire 2,787 1,366 1,079 3,558 338 4,836 34,778 
			 F05 City of London 9 8 4 24 105 32 1,402 
			 F06 Cleveland 2,007 1,451 2,343 4,009 155 3,751 40,588 
			 F07 Cumbria 478 969 881 2,289 693 4,174 30,267 
			 F08 Derbyshire 3,947 1,465 1,459 2,599 1,338 5,800 48,650 
			 F09 Devon and Cornwall 2,753 2,250 3,657 6,391 470 8,685 70,099 
			 F10 Dorset 2,749 415 526 2,273 1,105 3,692 29,821 
			 F11 Durham 84 1,717 3,757 4,032 2,039 3,144 35,829 
			 F12 Dyfed Powys 431 1,363 589 2,288 2,655 3,242 18,376 
			 F13 Essex 4,005 3,474 4,100 3,089 1,454 5,235 61,490 
			 F14 Gloucestershire 1,210 998 3,020 2,416 1,300 2,543 20,859 
			 F15 Greater Manchester 17,970 1,527 8,968 11,128 788 19,788 152,693 
			 F16 Gwent 1,117 1,225 1,779 4,448 1,097 5,418 42,876 
			 F17 Hampshire 4,706 1,000 1,738 7,404 4,039 11,320 88,130 
			 F18 Hertfordshire 6,873 821 5,660 5,383 4,062 3,849 45,746 
			 F19 Humberside 2,560 954 1,137 3,838 239 5,394 31,081 
			 F20 Kent 1,476 884 1,758 6,539 2,012 8,074 46,235 
			 F21 Lancashire 4,622 3,399 5,000 10,010 3,394 9,438 116,639 
			 F22 Leicestershire 1,994 708 3,827 1,509 589 2,748 38,681 
			 F23 Lincolnshire 1,372 578 826 2,884 884 2,019 25,180 
			 F24 Merseyside 3,860 2,387 3,513 4,281 1,896 9,117 71,005 
			 F25 Metropolitan Police 15,294 15,625 965 16,270 10,303 19,449 215,737 
			 F26 Norfolk 3,645 1,505 2,461 4,916 1,433 3,163 38,385 
			 F27 Northamptonshire 3,123 794 1,682 3,054 841 1,922 45,229 
			 F28 Northumbria 6,107 2,433 3,441 9,062 797 13,217 106,925 
			 F29 North Wales 1,619 54 1,969 1,799 1,951 2,945 34,948 
			 F30 North Yorkshire 1,910 1,739 462 4,665 315 3,032 31,800 
			 F31 Nottinghamshire 4,551 1,871 10,412 3,990 1,640 1,498 53,096 
			 F32 South Wales 8,080 2,774 2,413 4,010 503 7,426 66,864 
			 F33 South Yorkshire 4,771 4,450 2,261 5,363 2,397 4,769 82,172 
			 F34 Staffordshire 1,577 400 230 1,407 1,217 4,767 44,148 
			 F35 Suffolk 2,150 963 1,498 3,439 650 2,835 24,292 
			 F36 Surrey 5,324 1,289 9,638 1,496 1,271 4,793 30,251 
			 F37 Sussex 5,415 2,067 12,478 5,417 1,023 5,669 57,243 
			 F38 Thames Valley 3,066 1,255 2,698 1,220 1,850 8,586 54,149 
			 F39 Warwickshire 2,146 153 1,012 2,508 817 2,105 16,669 
			 F40 West Mercia 1,484 1,569 1,687 5,986 1,530 7,287 53,444 
			 F41 West Midlands 3,631 1,524 17,903 6,652 6,189 15,781 97,071 
			 F42 West Yorkshire 7,880 2,631 5,829 7,462 2,078 8,090 96,885 
			 F43 Wiltshire 1,690 252 714 2,277 405 1,893 23,071 
		
	
	
		
			   Street drinking  Substance misuse  Trespass  Inappropriate use/sale/possession of fireworks  Begging/  vagrancy  Total of hate/  discrimination qualifiers( 2) 
			 F01 Avon and Somerset 561 271 619 1,158 729 (3) 
			 F02 Bedfordshire 375 52 335 276 259 245 
			 F03 Cambridgeshire 395 14 78 255 290 490 
			 F04 Cheshire 211 23 254 567 250 678 
			 F05 City of London 17 0 4 7 254 66 
			 F06 Cleveland 655 83 107 382 104 415 
			 F07 Cumbria 941 53 881 468 144 338 
			 F08 Derbyshire 807 25 130 491 164 787 
			 F09 Devon and Cornwall 1,196 26 372 553 508 635 
			 F10 Dorset 326 92 465 388 1,351 570 
			 F11 Durham 2,085 74 334 335 33 382 
			 F12 Dyfed Powys 1,049 60 255 159 125 230 
			 F13 Essex 203 141 487 1,196 75 2,535 
			 F14 Gloucestershire 250 92 209 266 153 246 
			 F15 Greater Manchester 5,414 10 364 2,170 1,387 5,574 
			 F16 Gwent 1,469 218 640 558 119 2,817 
			 F17 Hampshire 1,830 229 980 578 931 2,116 
			 F18 Hertfordshire 569 244 134 629 263 993 
			 F19 Humberside 629 20 409 494 293 707 
			 F20 Kent 191 14 297 787 655 1,417 
			 F21 Lancashire 1,971 67 688 1,678 803 2,334 
			 F22 Leicestershire 460 124 189 504 388 713 
			 F23 Lincolnshire 356 104 230 312 201 305 
			 F24 Merseyside 1,884 133 166 1,349 759 5,141 
			 F25 Metropolitan Police 22,895 34,077 4,310 6,889 7,995 4,362 
			 F26 Norfolk 319 80 182 268 238 465 
			 F27 Northamptonshire 385 6 84 446 142 1,186 
			 F28 Northumbria 3,310 712 234 1,238 437 1,383 
			 F29 North Wales 330 0 96 266 84 433 
			 F30 North Yorkshire 1,437 30 185 318 257 221 
			 F31 Nottinghamshire 877 55 188 844 223 1,666 
			 F32 South Wales 1,403 947 485 615 584 633 
			 F33 South Yorkshire 1,468 676 242 1,226 375 3,087 
			 F34 Staffordshire 1,386 246 485 529 94 280 
			 F35 Suffolk 542 170 374 111 174 413 
			 F36 Surrey 463 65 143 402 218 1,797 
			 F37 Sussex 2,242 183 255 429 182 235 
			 F38 Thames Valley 1,728 405 455 301 432 441 
			 F39 Warwickshire 656 27 316 109 51 572 
			 F40 West Mercia 452 89 732 556 304 974 
			 F41 West Midlands 2,189 901 1,027 1,706 1,327 2,820 
			 F42 West Yorkshire 94 317 382 1,115 424 2,171 
			 F43 Wiltshire 194 87 111 214 277 6,788 
			 (1) In respect of 'rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour in public', the National Incident Category List (NICL) definition does not make direct reference to incidents in public. The data supplied are for all incidents recorded under this category and will include a number that have occurred other than in public. (2) In respect of 'hate incidents', NICL specifies that incidents with certain hate motivational characteristics, as set down by Association of Chief Police Officers policy, should be identified. The data supplied are those identified by forces within that policy. In all cases these incidents will have been recorded under a main category type (for example antisocial behaviour) and qualified as hate. This will include a number of incidents that have resulted in the recording of a notifiable crime but will not include all notifiable crimes recorded as aggravated by a hate factor. (3) No data.

Terrorism

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 40W, on terrorism, what follow-up action on protective security is necessary after Project Argus events.

Alan Johnson: Project Argus events are not designed to provide bespoke advice on protective security for individual businesses but follow-up action may include providing advice on specific protective security issues raised by businesses.

Terrorism

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 40W, on terrorism, whether any central record is kept of the organisations which have participated in Project Argus training.

Alan Johnson: While organisations that have attended Project Argus events are recorded and held locally by the police counter-terrorism security advisers (CTSAs), there is no central record.

Travel Restrictions

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2009,  Official Report, column 321W, on travel restrictions, with which foreign governments his officials have discussed the Government's policy on exclusion since 5 May 2009.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 25 June 2009
	The Government of the United States of America.

UK Border Agency: Manpower

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each UK Border Agency office in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: UK Border Agency staff whose records are held within the central computerised personnel system are not broken down into the specific categories  (a) to  (d). It is not possible to identify staff numbers against these categories and to break them down into each UK Border Agency office over five years, except at disproportionate cost.
	The best estimate of UK Border Agency staff into the categories listed in the question is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Category  1 January 2005  31 March 2006  31 March 2007  31 March 2008  Workforce 2009( 1) 
			  (a) Directors(2) 5 10 10 14 13 
			  (b) Senior 28 38 44 45 42 
			 Managers(3)  
			   
			  (c) Specialist and delivery managers 15,337 17,155 18,784 18,095 17,639 
			  (d) executive support and administration staff(4)  
			   
			 Total active FTE(5) 15,370 17,203 18,838 18,154 17,692 
			 Total paid FTE(6) 17,826 
			 (1) 31 May 2009 Rounded FTE. Figure provided excludes former HMRC and UKVisas workers joining UKBA in machinery of Government transfer. (2) SCS payband 2 and 3. (3) SCS payband 1. (4) Grades AA to Grade 6. We do not distinguish 'specialist and delivery managers' across UK Border Agency staff. (5) Internal UKBA metric excludes some paid staff as below, source ADELPHI. (6) ONS metric includes paid maternity leave, paid career breaks, source Dataview.

Vetting

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent representations his Department has received on  (a) the time taken to process Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks and  (b) the effect of delays in CRB checks on the recruitment of staff in the health and social care sector;
	(2)  how long it took on average to process each type of Criminal Records Bureau check in each of the last four quarters.

David Hanson: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) receives inquiries from applicants, employers and others acting on their behalf across all employment and voluntary sectors on a regular basis.
	Data concerning the average time taken to complete a disclosure are not a performance target and are not collated by the CRB. Average figures do not give an accurate indication of performance, since any force's performance can be affected by a number of factors, including the volume of cases sent to a force to process in any given month, the number of staff available to process the checks and the IT resources on hand to forces. With these variables, performance can fluctuate within individual forces from one month to the next.

Work Permits

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits have been issued to non-UK nationals in each quarter since 1 January 2007.

Phil Woolas: The number of work permit applications approved for non-UK nationals in each quarter for the period 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2008 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			Number 
			 Q1 2007 35,510 
			 Q2 2007 33,160 
			 Q3 2007 34,010 
			 Q4 2007 28,380 
			 Q1 2008 28,260 
			 Q2 2008 32,335 
			 Q3 2008 38,460 
			 Q4 2008 24,655 
			 Total  254,765 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to nearest 5.  2. The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Work Permits

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2009,  Official Report, column 2057W, on work permits, how many applications for a work permit on the basis of an intra-company transfer in respect of non-UK nationals were  (a) made and  (b) granted in each quarter since January 2004.

Phil Woolas: The number of work permit applications made and approved for Intra-Company Transfers in each quarter since January 2004 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Work permit intra-company transfer applications made and approved for each quarter during the period 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2008 
			   Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4  Total 
			  2004  
			 Applications made 8,235 8,005 9,355 8,050 33,645 
			 Applications approved 8,060 7,765 9,140 7,805 32,770 
			   
			  2005  
			 Applications made 8,460 8,845 8,900 8,475 34,680 
			 Applications approved 8,250 8,595 8,610 8,290 33,745 
			   
			  2006  
			 Applications made 10,860 10,745 11,200 11,145 43,950 
			 Applications approved 10,625 10,520 10,960 10,945 43,050 
			   
			  2007  
			 Applications made 12,865 12,960 12,945 11,460 50,230 
			 Applications approved 12,590 12,685 12,440 11,020 48,735 
			   
			  2008  
			 Applications made 12,375 13,385 14,565 9,385 49,710 
			 Applications approved 11,870 12,930 14,135 9,080 48,010 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest 5. 2. Because of rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown. 3. The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to answer Question 269160, tabled on 1 April 2009, on tourist visas.

Phil Woolas: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 11 June 2009,  Official Report, column 938W.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to answer question 272236, tabled on 27 April 2009, on highly-skilled migrants.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 June 2009,  Official Report, column 456W.

HEALTH

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were performed under the Abortion Act 1967, as amended by section 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, where the unborn child had a cleft  (a) palate and  (b) lip, broken down by (i) grounds for abortion, (ii) length of gestation and (iii) health authority in 2008.

Gillian Merron: There were less than 10 abortions in 2008 with a cleft lip and palate. Data cannot be broken down by gestation or health authority for confidentiality reasons in line with the Office for National Statistics' guidance on the disclosure of abortion statistics (2005). All abortions were performed under Section l(l)(d) of the Abortion Act 1967, that there is substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
	For years 2006, 2007 and 2008, some of the principal medical conditions for abortions performed under Section l(l)(d) were suppressed as the totals for each single year were too small to release. In the three years 2006-08, there were also less than 10 cases with a principal medical condition of the congenital malformation cleft lip and/or cleft palate.

Carers: Advisory Services

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls to the Carers Direct helpline have  (a) resulted in the allocation to a social worker of a new case and  (b) required an urgent case assessment by a social worker since the helpline was established.

Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally.

Drugs: Misuse

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what his policy is on the use of naloxone in the treatment of opiate addicts; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what his policy is on the provision of naloxone to carers of opiate addicts to administer in cases of overdose.

Gillian Merron: Advice on the use of naloxone in the treatment of drug addiction is set out in Drug Misuse and Dependence: Guidelines on Clinical Management (2007)
	www.nta.nhs.uk/publications/documents/clinical_ guidelines_2007.pdf
	All drug treatment services are expected to work within these guidelines. The guidance notes that all services working with drug misusers should have an emergency protocol in place to cover the management of drug overdoses. This should include, as well as other measures, protocols for the emergency administration of naloxone.
	The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse is running pilots in take-home naloxone in 16 sites in England. The pilot projects will make naloxone available to family members and carers, and train them in its use and other life saving measures. They will also encourage drug users to think about reducing risk-taking.

Drugs: Misuse

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with NHS bodies on the supply of and demand for naloxone; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Naloxone injection of different strengths is available in ampoules and pre-filled syringes. The national health service has alerted NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) that there are problems affecting the supply of one presentation of naloxone hydrochloride injection in pre-filled syringes. Stocks are limited and supply is being carefully managed by the company. These syringes are available only from one source and so it is not possible to obtain alternative supplies of this presentation.
	NHS PASA routinely monitors the availability of naloxone injection and is not aware of any other supply problems with this product.

East of England: Health Services

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when the Suffolk Primary Care Trust was informed of the intention of the East Anglian Strategic Health Authority to cease the current procedures of pre-hospital thrombolysis;
	(2)  what reasons no public consultation took place on the decision of the East of England Health Authority to withdraw emergency heart services from Ipswich Hospital.

Phil Hope: This is a matter for the East of England Strategic Health Authority. We understand that the proposal to create heart attack centres in the east of England were subject to public consultation on as part of Towards the best, together from 6 May 2008 to 4 August 2008. These proposals in Towards the best, together were put forward by clinicians working in the national health service in the east of England region, and involved eight clinical work-streams involving around 200 clinicians (with representatives from every NHS organisation in the region), stakeholders, and patients in drawing up the proposals. The proposals were the result of taking the best clinical evidence and applying it to provide the best health service for the people of the east of England.
	The consultation directly engaged more than 6,000 people and the public gave 90 per cent. approval to create four specialist heart attack centres. Staff saw them as the one of the most important changes to acute services in the vision, second only to a guaranteed future for all acute trusts, including Ipswich.
	The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) for the east of England scrutinised the proposals made as part of Towards the best, together consultation. Following Towards the best, together consultation, the NHS discussed with the OSCs the plans for implementing Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PPCI) across the region and it was agreed that further consultation was not required as the changes were in line with those already consulted on in Towards the best, together.
	The decision on the four specialist centres to deliver PPCI in the east of England was made by the East of England Specialised Commissioning Group. The East of England Specialised Commissioning Group is a committee comprising representatives of all of the 14 primary care trusts (PCTs) in the east of England, including Suffolk PCT, and is a sub-committee of their Boards.

East of England: Health Services

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether the East of England Strategic Health Authority has been informed of the requirements on them to assess the carbon impact of their service decisions; what mechanism there is to monitor the authority's compliance with those requirements; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate has been made of the effect on carbon dioxide emissions of changes in  (a) the number of ambulance journeys,  (b) the number of journeys undertaken by friends and relatives of patients and  (c) arrangements for patients' post-operative care arising from the decision by the East of England Strategic Health Authority to withdraw emergency cardiac provision in Ipswich hospital.

Phil Hope: The Department has issued advice about transport management (Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 07-03) which sets out carbon impacts of travel, Climate Change requirements and the necessity to take these aspects into account in developing Transport Plans and Strategies. A copy of HTM 07-03 has been placed in the Library.
	The Department's Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2009-10 - high quality care for all is the second in a three year planning cycle established by the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review to provide a solid platform for improving the quality of care and focusing on the priorities that matter most to patients, staff and public. Within the section on Local Priorities, it states: paragraph 8, page 42
	The NHS can make significant contributions to reducing its carbon impact. Every NHS organisation should ensure that it measures and progressively reduces its own carbon footprint. This will save resources now, improve health today and set an important example to deliver high quality and sustainable services for the future.

East of England: Health Services

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what socio-economic impact assessment was made by the East of England Strategic Health Authority of its proposal to withdraw emergency cardiac provision in Ipswich Hospital.

Phil Hope: This is a matter for the local national health service and it is the responsibility of primary care trusts in conjunction with local stakeholders to ensure that the services they commission meet the needs of the communities that they serve.

Food Standards Agency: Public Appointments

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what stage has been reached in the process of appointing a new Chair of the Food Standards Agency; and when he expects the successful candidate to take up the post.

Gillian Merron: The position of Chair of the Food Standards Agency is appointed jointly by the Secretary of State for Health and Health Ministers in the devolved Administrations. The role was advertised in March 2009 for a period of four weeks. The application window closed on 14 April. The selection panel shortlisted the applications in May and interviewed candidates in June. Ministers considered the panel's recommendations and agreed the noble Lord Rooker as the preferred candidate.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has invited the House of Commons Health Select Committee to scrutinise the preferred candidate prior to appointment.
	The process, run by the Appointments Commission, is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and has been conducted in accordance with Commissioner's Code of Practice for Public Appointments, involving an independent assessor at all stages including shortlisting and interview panel.

Health Services: Technology

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of older people who are supported to live in their own homes by telecare or other assistive technologies; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: 'Building Telecare in England' (Department of Health July 2005), a copy of which has been placed in the Library, identified that there were 1.4 million users of telecare. Since that time it is estimated that investments made with the 80 million preventative technology grant and other funding sources have seen the number of new telecare and telehealth users increase by over 200,000.

Hospitals: Admissions

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many hospital admissions there have been for  (a) male and  (b) female patients with diagnosis code (i) F30, (ii) F31, (iii) F32, (iv) F33, (v) F34, (vi) F35, (vii) F36, (viii) F37, (ix) F38 and (x) F39 (A) under 14, (B) aged 14 to 17 and (C) aged 18 years and over in each (X) region and (Y) primary care trust in each of the last five years; and what the mean waiting time for admission was in each case;
	(2)  how many hospital admissions there have been for  (a) male and  (b) female patients with diagnosis code (i) F20, (ii) F21, (iii) F22, (iv) F23, (v) F24, (vi) F25, (vii) F26, (viii) F27, (ix) F28 and (x) F29 (A) under 14, (B) aged 14 to 17 and (C) aged 18 years and over in (X) each region and (Y) each primary care trust in each of the last five years; and what the mean waiting time for admission was in each case.

Phil Hope: This information has been placed in the Library.
	It should be noted that the number of admissions does not represent the number of patients as one patient may have been admitted more than once.

Hospitals: Admissions

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital admissions there have been for  (a) male and  (b) female patients aged (i) under 14, (ii) 14 to 17 and (iii) 18 or more years old with diagnosis code (A) K70.0, (B) K70.1, (C) K70.2, (D) K70.3, (E) K70.4, (F) K70.5, (G) K 70.6, (H) K70.7, (I) K70.8 and (J) K70.9 in (1) each region and (2) each primary care trust in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: A copy of the requested information has been placed in the Library.
	On advice from the NHS Information Centre for health and social care (Information Centre) data by primary care trust (PCT) have not been given, instead data have been given by strategic health authority (SHA). This is because the small number of patients at PCT level requires that all of the data for the 14 to 17 age group and the majority of the 18 and over age group would have to be suppressed, to prevent any identification of individuals, which means that the data which could be supplied would be meaningless.
	Additionally, the Information Centre has advised that SHA data be used instead of Government office region (GOR) data. SHAs have very similar boundaries to GOR, with the exception of South East Coast SHA and South Central SHA, which are together aggregated to South East GOR.
	It should be noted that after 2005-06 the SHA configurations changed, with the 28 SHAs merging to form 10 larger SHAs. No data have been given for K70.5, K70.6, K70.7 and K70.8 as these diagnosis codes are not used. Additionally, the number of admissions does not represent the number of patients as one patient may have been admitted more than once.

Hospitals: Emergencies

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department provides to NHS trusts on the staff-to-patient ratio required to evacuate a hospital in an emergency.

Mike O'Brien: The Department's guidance on staff to patient ratios required to evacuate a hospital in an emergency is contained in Firecode: Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 05-02 Guidance in support of functional provisions for healthcare premises, published in April 2007, which has been placed in the Library.
	Responsibility for ensuring adequate numbers of suitably trained personnel rests with the management of the local organisation. The guidance states that for any department or management unit, there should be a minimum of two staff present at all times. Where the number of patients exceeds thirty, the number of staff should be increased by one for every 10 (or up to 10) patients.
	Prior to April 2007, the same information was contained in Firecode: Health Technical Memorandum 81, published in 1987.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of hospital waiting times in  (a) Ribble Valley constituency,  (b) Lancashire and  (c) nationally.

Mike O'Brien: The Department does not collect referral to treatment waiting times data at constituency level or at county level. However, the following table shows the average referral to treatment times for primary care trusts serving Ribble Valley constituency, North West strategic health authority (SHA) and England in April 2009 (latest published data):
	
		
			  Median referral to treatment times 
			  Weeks 
			   Admitted pathways  Non-admitted pathways 
			 East Lancashire Primary Care Trust 6.6 4.7 
			 Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust 6.1 4.8 
			 North West SHA 7.5 4.2 
			 England 7.7 4.2 
			  Source: Department of Health Referral to Treatment data.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of average waiting times for hospital treatment in  (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency,  (b) the London Borough of Bexley and  (c) Greater London.

Mike O'Brien: The Department collects referral to treatment (RTT) data at trust and primary care trust level. Average (median) RTT waiting times for April 2009 (latest published data) are as follows:
	
		
			  Median RTT times 
			  Weeks 
			   Admitted pathways  Non-admitted pathways 
			 Bexley Care Trust 6.4 4.2 
			 London Strategic Health Authority 7.2 4.0 
			 England 7.7 4.2

Influenza

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent assessment is of the adequacy of the influenza pandemic response strategy in  (a) Ribble Valley constituency,  (b) Lancashire and  (c) nationally.

Gillian Merron: National health service organisations in the North West have been preparing their pandemic response for the last five years. All 63 NHS organisations in the North West region have provided assurance to the NHS North West strategic health authority (SHA) that they have robust plans in place to respond to an influenza pandemic.
	The NHS Operating Framework stated that all NHS organisations should have robust pandemic flu plans in place by December 2009. Self-assessment of plans have been completed against the requirements set out in the National framework for responding to an influenza pandemic. (A copy of this has already been placed in the Library).
	Following the outbreak of swine flu in April, SHAs have revisited and reviewed primary care trust plans, in particular to ensure resilience of antiviral collection points (ACPs).
	Lancashire has several ACPs which will be open to the general public plus others which are located in prisons and hospitals for prisoners and in-patients. Of the ACPs in Lancashire, several can be operational within 48 hours, and the remaining within 96 hours or a week.
	The Ribble Valley is a more rural area and has its main ACP, for public access, located at Clitheroe hospital which is a community hospital. The population of the Ribble Valley can also access several other ACPs in the area.

Influenza: Health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse to date of the  (a) interim and  (b) full National Pandemic Flu Service; what original estimate was made of the outturn cost of each service; and what his latest estimate is of the outturn cost;
	(2)  on what date his Department first requested Treasury funding for the full National Pandemic Flu Service; and on what date his Department was notified that funding approval had been given.

Gillian Merron: The costs incurred to date for system development amount to 11 million. The development costs of the interim solution are 1.4 million. The predicted out-turn for 2009-10 was 18 million (excluding 14.8 million of costs that were contingent on a pandemic actually occurring). The out-turn allowing for a possible mobilisation has now been forecast at 33.6 million under the full National Pandemic Flu Service and 31.7 million under the interim solution.
	HM Treasury (HMT) were sighted throughout the developmental work for the National Pandemic Flu Service. The Department formally requested approval for funding on 18 November 2008 and this was granted by HMT on 1 December 2008.

Mental Health Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of treatment involving meditation in  (a) mental health and  (b) other health care.

Phil Hope: No assessment has been made.

Mental Health Services: Prisons

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of meditation techniques in  (a) mental health care and  (b) other aspects of health care for prisoners.

Phil Hope: No assessment has been made.

Multiple Sclerosis: Drugs

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are being prescribed low-dose naltrexone for the treatment of multiple sclerosis on the NHS.

Mike O'Brien: The number of patients prescribed particular drugs is not known, nor the purpose for which they are used. In 2008, the Prescription Cost Analysis system indicates there were 900 prescription items dispensed in the community, in England for low dose naltrexone drugs between 1.5mg and 4.5mg. Available data indicate there was no use of low dose naltrexone drugs in hospitals in England.

NHS: Expenditure

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the TFR3 and PFR3 financial returns submitted to his Department, how much  (a) primary care trusts and  (b) other NHS trusts have spent on (i) administrative and clerical staff, (ii) remuneration of chairmen and non-executive directors, (iii) laundry and cleaning equipment, (iv) postage, (v) telephones, (vi) advertising, (vii) electricity, (viii) gas, (ix) other fuel including oil and coal, (x) business rates, (xi) rent, (xii) remuneration of auditors, (xiii) external contract staffing and consultancy services and (xiv) contract hotel services including cleaning and catering contracts in each year since 2003-04.

Mike O'Brien: The data requested are provided in the following tables.
	
		
			 million 
			  NHS trusts (TFR3)  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Administrative and clerical staffNHS 2,364,960 2,437,784 2,508,623 2,408,654 2,163,292 
			 Administrative and clerical staffnon NHS 127,972 111,859 113,957 98,565 131,360 
			 Administrative and clerical stafftotal 2,492,932 2,549,643 2,622,580 2,507,219 2,294,652 
			 Remuneration of chairman and non-executive directors 19,384 16,119 15,272 12,232 11,560 
			 Laundry and cleaning equipment 80,937 65,219 71,230 67,529 64,585 
			 Postage 48,824 43,928 42,934 39,342 36,155 
			 Telephones 144,256 127,271 121,930 115,282 102,752 
			 Advertising 84,766 66,279 43,349 21,112 23,233 
			 Electricity 114,351 121,574 160,550 174,033 140,117 
			 Gas 90,043 99,896 148,227 128,974 101,936 
			 Other fuel including oil and coal 34,459 32,787 34,186 26,702 24,104 
			 Business rates 176,170 157,022 163,442 183,930 157,402 
			 Rent 176,872 186,677 224,110 266,446 282,998 
			 Remuneration of auditors 40,282 36,864 36,751 37,024 33,895 
			 External contract staff and consultancy services 157,425 135,150 158,277 163,393 155,544 
			 Contract hotel services including cleaning and catering contracts 375,992 314,623 352,927 388,555 389,841 
			  Note: In 2003-04 NHS Professionals was administered by West Yorkshire ambulance services trust. To avoid double counting, expenditure by NHS Professionals on administrative and clerical staff has been eliminated in the table above. 
		
	
	
		
			000 
			  Primary Care Trusts (PFR3)  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Administrative and clerical staffNHS 605,683 759,524 910,954 1,004,588 1,079,280 
			 Administrative and clerical staffnon NHS 53,980 60,926 72,329 73,640 115,109 
			 Administrative and clerical stafftotal 659,663 820,450 983,283 1,078,228 1,194,389 
			 PCT chairman, board and executive remuneration 124,782 
			 Remuneration of chairman and non-executive directors  88,095 77,949 52,026 42,687 
			 Laundry and cleaning equipment 9,495 7,822 10,412 11,594 14,297 
			 Postage 19,220 19,404 20,050 19,580 20,585 
			 Telephones 59,864 64,542 67,080 66,288 73,361 
			 Advertising 45,325 45,382 29,183 15,122 29,149 
			 Electricity 15,308 20,072 26,827 33,541 34,827 
			 Gas 13,083 14,993 22,232 25,198 25,476 
			 Other fuel including oil and coal 1,846 1,497 2,145 2,443 2,927 
			 Business rates 41,415 40,952 49,829 62,083 65,901 
			 Rent 86,230 93,751 144,718 193,310 259,579 
			 Remuneration of auditors 35,378 36,186 37,288 46,720 40,530 
			 External contract staff and consultancy services 53,101 55,925 71,600 74,383 139,172 
			 Contract hotel services including cleaning and catering contracts 30,561 29,201 40,835 44,459 47,469 
			  Note: In the 2003-04 PFRs the heading was 'PCT chairman, board and executive remuneration' and so is not directly comparable with the heading 'Remuneration of chairman and non-executive directors' used from 2004-05 onwards.

NHS: ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether the funds for the extension of the Additional Supply Capability and Capacity Framework to cover NHS trusts in the South of England that are not included in the Local Service Provider contract with BT will be taken from the existing National Programme for IT budget;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of his Department's expenditure on the Additional Supply Capability and Capacity Framework in the next five years;
	(3)  how much his Department has spent  (a) in total,  (b) in accrediting systems for and  (c) in staffing costs of the Additional Supply Capability and Capacity Framework in each year since its inception;
	(4)  from which budget funding for the extension of the Additional Supply Capability and Capacity Framework to cover the 52 NHS Trusts in the south of England that are not included in the local service provider contract with BT will be drawn;
	(5)  what estimate he has made of his Department's expenditure on the Additional Supply Capability and Capacity Framework in each of the next five years;
	(6)  what his Department's expenditure on the Additional Supply Capability and Capacity Framework has been in each year since its inception; and what the cost of  (a) accrediting systems for and  (b) staffing the Framework was in each of those years.

Mike O'Brien: Systems deployed under the Additional Supply Capability and Capacity (ASCC) framework in the south of England will be funded as part of the National Programme for IT, within existing resources. Proposals for trusts in the south to use the ASCC will be subject to appropriate approvals being obtained. Part of the process will be to establish the likely overall demand and estimated value of contracts to be awarded. This has not yet been completed.
	Financial management information is not kept in a way that enables all the costs of the ASCC to be separately identified within the staffing and other administrative costs of NHS Connecting for Health, which is responsible, within the Department, for the National Programme for IT. However, suppliers' systems are not accredited as a part of the ASCC procurement. The purpose of the procurement is to create a framework of suppliers with demonstrated capacity and capability in various specialisms. Subsequently, on identification of a business need, each trust will specify its particular requirements to suppliers in the most appropriate service category. It will be for suppliers to demonstrate how they can meet this need against the procurement's specific evaluation criteria.

Osteoporosis: Health Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in implementing the osteoporosis diagnosis and prevention scheme provided for in the Primary Medical Services (Directed Enhanced Services) (England) (Amendment) Directions 2009.

Mike O'Brien: The two-year clinical Directed Enhanced Service (DES) for Osteoporosis was brought in to cover the period April 2008 to March 2010 following agreement reached between the British Medical Association (BMA) and NHS Employers (on behalf of the Government) and announced in September 2008. Subsequently, joint guidance was issued to general practitioner (GP) practices and primary care trusts (PCTs) in the same month to enable GP practices choosing to take up the DES to begin working on delivering the agreed specification, with the Directions amending GP contractual arrangements issued in February 2009. These arrangements were supported by further guidance issued jointly by the BMA and NHS Employers in the same month.
	Financial data from PCTs indicate that PCTs have made some achievement payments in 2008-09 against the delivery by general practice of this DES, with greater reward available against achievement expected in 2009-10. Discussions about contractual arrangements applying to GP practices for 2010-11 and beyond are currently ongoing.

Pharmacy: Crime

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to decriminalise dispensing errors by pharmacists under the Medicines Act 1968.

Mike O'Brien: The Government recognise concerns that specific provisions contained in the 1968 Medicines Act may be used to prosecute pharmacists who make a dispensing error.
	A full review of the Medicines Act is already under way by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This will include consideration of changes that may be made to the law to ensure that it provides the necessary safeguards for the public while being proportionate as to how instances of clinical error are dealt with. The MHRA is working closely with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and other stakeholders on the Medicines Act review.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to bring forward the timetable for publication of the report of Sir Ian Gilmore's review of prescription charges.

Mike O'Brien: Professor Gilmore is due to report on his review of prescription charges to departmental Ministers in the autumn. The review was due to report to departmental Ministers in the summer. However, following discussions between Ministers and Professor Gilmore, he will undertake further work in order to ensure that proposals can be implemented smoothly and efficiently.

Skin Cancer: Health Education

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what funding his Department allocated to the SunSmart campaign in  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2007-08 and  (c) 2008-09;
	(2)  what funding his Department has allocated to the SunSmart campaign for 2009-10;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the SunSmart campaign; and if he will publish that assessment.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 22 June 2009
	SunSmart, the national skin cancer prevention and sun protection campaign run by Cancer Research UK on behalf of the United Kingdom Health Departments has been allocated the following funding from the Department of Health, England, for the campaign:
	
		
			
			 2006-07 150,000 
			 2007-08 104,000 
			 2008-09 110.000 
			 2009-10 115,000 
		
	
	The Cancer Reform Strategy also made commitments to increase the funding available for awareness programmes and has provided additional monies in 2008-09 and 2009-10 for national and local skin cancer initiatives.
	In surveys done by Cancer Research UK, some significant increases in awareness of sun/skin cancer issues, and of self-reported practice of preventive actions, have been observed. We will discuss arrangements with Cancer Research UK about how to place this information in the public domain.

Thalidomide

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether he plans to compensate those who have suffered adverse effects as a consequence of drugs prescribed by the NHS before the provisions of the Medicine Act 1968 came into effect;
	(2)  if he will bring forward measures for the financial compensation of thalidomiders whose mothers were prescribed thalidomide by the NHS.

Gillian Merron: Thalidomide victims are compensated through a private settlement, which was agreed between the Thalidomide Trust, which was established to administer annual payments to victims, and Distillers, which is now part of Diageo plc., the company that marketed the drug in the United Kingdom. Compensation payments are therefore a matter for the Thalidomide Trust and Diageo plc.
	It is the Department's policy not to make ex-gratia payments to patients who believe their health has been adversely affected by the use of pharmaceutical products. Responsibility rests with the pharmaceutical company concerned.
	Responsibility for the testing of thalidomide, including tests to assess its safety, lies with Chemie Grnenthal, the original developer of the drug. In the United Kingdom, Distillers also undertook testing on thalidomide before its introduction to the UK market.
	Prior to the thalidomide tragedy, there was no formal drug regulation system in place to monitor the safety of medicines in the UK. As a result of the tragedy, a complete review of the machinery for marketing, testing and regulating drugs was initiated, including enactment of the Medicines Act 1968, which introduced stricter testing for medicines prior to licensing to ensure that they meet acceptable standards of safety and efficacy.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Airbus A350

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect that provision of launch aid expenditure on the Airbus A350 would have on the UK aerospace industry;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the provision of EU launch aid for the Airbus A350; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: holding answer 23 June 2009
	As part of our usual due diligence process when considering launch investment requests, the Government have carried out a detailed assessment of the possible provision of support to Airbus for the A350 XWB aircraft. This includes detailed analysis of the company's business case, technical viability of the project, the potential market, and anticipated benefits to the UK aerospace industry and the wider economy. As a result of this analysis we are proceeding with negotiations with the company.
	At the Paris Air Show, on 15 June, the Minister for Science and Technology held discussions with his equivalent Ministers from France and Germany as part of the regular Airbus ministerial meetings held at the major European air shows. These discussions included financing arrangements for the A350 XWB on which the UK, French, German and Spanish Governments are in separate negotiations with Airbus. The Minister for Science and Technology confirmed the UK's commitment to Airbus and the A350 XWB programme and confirmed our aim to complete negotiations for support in the coming weeks.

Airbus A350

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  when he expects the decision to be taken on whether to provide launch aid funding for Airbus A350;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of jobs in the UK which the allocation of launch aid funding for the Airbus A350 would  (a) create and  (b) secure.

Ian Lucas: The Department is in negotiations with Airbus over support for the A350 XWB programme. We would aim to complete these within the next few weeks; however this is subject to reaching satisfactory agreement with the company.
	The long term nature of this project, and the fact that negotiations are still continuing, make it hard to be precise about the numbers of UK-based jobs that will be created directly within Airbus and within the A350 XWB supply chain. However, our assessment is that the programme will provide significant employment opportunities as well as generating skills and expertise that will help keep the UK at the forefront of aerospace technology.

Business: Regulation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on post-implementation reviews of regulations affecting businesses.

Ian Lucas: The Impact Assessment template requires the timing for the post-implementation review of the regulatory proposal to be set out.
	A post-implementation review should establish the actual costs and benefits of the policy and whether it is achieving its desired effects and delivering the policy objective.
	Guidance for conducting a post-implementation review is part of the Impact Assessment guidance, available at:
	www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/bre/policy/scrutinising-new-regulations/preparing-impact-assessments/page44077.html
	On 20 March 2008 the Government announced a new approach to post-legislative scrutiny [Command Paper 7320] in response to a report by the Law Commission.
	This new approach will complement the Government's internal departmental scrutiny with parliamentary scrutinyprincipally by Committees of the House of Commons. Government Departments will publish a memorandum on appropriate Acts of Parliament which will enable the departmental Select Committees of the Commons to decide whether to conduct further scrutiny. Details are available at:
	www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm73/7320/7320.pdf.

Colin Matthews and BAA

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on what dates since 1 January 2007  (a) the Secretary of State,  (b) other Ministers and  (c) officials in his Department have (i) met and (ii) had discussions with (A) Colin Matthews and (B) BAA.

Ian Lucas: holding answer 19 May 2009
	My right hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furnes (Mr. Hatton), the then Secretary of State for BERR, met Sir Nigel Rudd on 28 November 2007 and 13 March 2008. My noble Friend, Lord Jones of Birmingham, the then Minister for Trade and Investment met Sir Nigel Rudd on 30 April 2008. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Competitiveness and Small Business met Colin Matthews on 1 May 2009. Officials also met a representative from BAA on 21 October 2008, and had further discussions with BAA prior to each ministerial meeting shown above.

Construction

Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he expects to appoint a chief construction officer; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: I will make a statement shortly.

Further Education: Merseyside

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of young people resident in  (a) Merseyside and  (b) Crosby were in further education (i) in 1997 and (ii) on the latest date for which information is available.

Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is shown in the following tables for Merseyside and Liverpool local education authority (LEA). This information is not available below LEA level.
	
		
			  Proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds( 1)  in education and work based learning 
			  Percentage 
			   Full time further education  All education and work based learning 
			   Age 16  Age 17  All aged 16 and 17  Age 16  Age 17  All aged 16 and 17 
			  Merseyside   
			 End 1997 67 53 60 86 75 81 
			 End 2007 76 63 70 89 78 84 
			
			  Liverpool   
			 End 1997 63 46 54 83 67 75 
			 End 2007 77 63 70 92 80 86 
			 (1)The age of a( )learner is measured at the beginning of the academic year, 31 August.   Source:  Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16 to 18-year-olds in England, (Merseyside figures calculated from unrounded data for constituent LEAs.) http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000849/index.shtml

General Motors

Richard Burden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with representatives of General Motors on the future of GM Europe;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in other EU member states on the future of General Motors Europe;
	(3)  whether he plans to have discussions with Fiat on its interest in the future of GM Europe and the position of General Motors operations in the UK.

Ian Lucas: Government have had a number of discussions with GM, counterparts in other EU member states, the US Government, Fiat, Magna and other interested parties, including trade unions, about the future of GM Europe. BIS Ministers, GM Europe and ministerial counterparts from EU member states formally met on 13 March. My noble Friend the Secretary of State and officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide variety of interested parties.

Insolvency

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 925-26W, on insolvency, whether he has made an estimate of the projected increase in numbers of company administrations in 2009-10, based on the trends identified; and whether he has made an assessment of the merits of making additional funds available to the Insolvency Service to take account of the increase in the number of company administrations owing to the current economic situation.

Ian Lucas: holding answer 23 June 2009
	 No official estimates of the number of company administrations in 2009/10 and beyond have been compiled by the Insolvency Service (The Service). This is because company administrations are overseen by private practice insolvency practitioners, and so do not require additional funds from The Service. Administrators have a duty to report to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the conduct of directors and shadow directors of a company in administration. Where an adverse report has been submitted, The Service may carry out an investigation. The Service has implemented a number of initiatives to assist in the planning and management to deal with increases in the number of adverse reports, including more pro-active targeting and prioritisation of cases.
	The Service also monitors compliance by insolvency practitioners with Statement of Insolvency Practice 16 (SIP 16 Pre-packaged sales in administrations), with which all insolvency practitioners are required to comply. Pre-pack administrations are where a sale of the business or assets is arranged before administration and executed by the administrator immediately on or shortly after their appointment. SIP 16 requires insolvency practitioners in pre-pack administrations to explain in detail to creditors the background to their appointment and the reasons for any transaction undertaken through a pre-pack.
	An increase in the number of administrations could result in an increase in the number of reports submitted to the Service under SIP 16. This work is part of The Service's regulatory function. The Service has increased its fees to insolvency practitioners to cover our regulation work in relation to SIP 16s.
	The Redundancy Payments Services has also had additional funds available to take into account the increase in the number of overall company insolvencies.

Insolvency

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what monitoring of compliance with the Statement of Insolvency Practice 16 on pre-packaged sales in administrations is taking place; and if he will publish the results of such monitoring.

Ian Lucas: holding answer 25 June 2009
	 New disclosure requirements aimed at improving the transparency of pre-packaged administrations were introduced on 1 January 2009. The requirements are contained within SIP (Statement of Insolvency Practice) 16, which all insolvency practitioners acting as administrators are required to follow.
	The Insolvency Service is thoroughly examining all information received from insolvency practitioners in relation to disclosures made under SIP 16. Any evidence of non-compliance with SIP 16 on the part of insolvency practitioners will be reported to their relevant regulatory body so that disciplinary action may be considered.
	In addition, the Insolvency Service is examining the conduct of directors involved in pre-pack administrations and will take into account information disclosed under SIP 16 when considering whether to commence disqualification proceedings against directors.
	A report on the Insolvency Service's monitoring of information disclosed under SIP 16 will be published before the summer recess.

Internet: Iran

David Lidington: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate the Government has made of the quantity of exports from the UK to Iran of technology intended to inspect, monitor or filter internet content in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ian Lucas: holding answer 25 June 2009
	UK trade statistics do not allow us to identify exports from the UK to Iran of technology intended to inspect, monitor or filter internet content and the Government have not made an estimate of these types of export.
	The Government publish statistical summaries of export licences issued and refused by destination in its Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. No UK licences have been issued for the export of items which might have contained technology intended to inspect, monitor or filter internet content to Iran since 1999. Such technology would however not necessarily be controlled under UK export controls. This would depend on the specific items concerned: some technology could be controlled if it employed cryptography or was specially designed for military use.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects of the vehicle scrappage scheme on the second-hand car market; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: holding answer 23 June 2009
	The vehicle scrappage scheme is a targeted, time-limited action with a capped budget designed to help the whole motor trade. It was limited to make sure its benefits are balanced with the needs of other sectors of the car industry including the second hand market and repair businesses, and of manufacturers of other consumer durables. Over 74,000 orders for new vehicles have been taken since the scheme was announced in the Budget in April.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the increase in car sales attributable to the introduction of the car scrappage scheme; and what percentage of this increase is represented by vehicles produced in the UK.

Ian Lucas: Over 74,000 orders for new vehicles have been taken since the scrappage scheme was announced in the Budget in April. It is too early to give an estimate of how many of these orders are attributable to the scrappage scheme and what percentage of these are produced in the UK.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what consideration was given to the merits of introducing a vehicle scrappage incentive scheme based on a vehicle's carbon dioxide emissions.

Ian Lucas: holding answer 26 June 2009
	The scrappage scheme was primarily designed to boost the automotive industry and restore consumer confidence not as a green measure. However, we believe that there will be some benefits for the environment as old vehicles are replaced by newer, by and large more fuel-efficient models. A summary of the wide range of Government initiatives aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from road vehicles was set out in our Ultra-Low Carbon Vehicles in the UK strategy published on 16 April 2009.

Train to Gain Programme

Steve Webb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how people who lose their jobs can access the Train to Gain opportunities announced by his Department on 14 October 2008.

Kevin Brennan: The programme announced includes 100 million for support for people who are unemployed or facing redundancy. We now expect that funding to provide training places for around 70,000 people.
	Individuals who are under notice of redundancy will be able to access the funding training arranged by their employers. Employers will be able to get help and advice and access training through brokerage service run by Business Link or by contacting the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for advice.
	People who are recently redundant or who have been claiming unemployment benefits and who can be helped back into work through this targeted training programme will be able to access the programme by referral from their local JobCentre Plus office or next steps agency.

Train to Gain Programme: Finance

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much expenditure from the public purse has been incurred on the Train to Gain initiative in each month since January 2009; and what funds have been allocated to the initiative for each of the next three years.

Kevin Brennan: The Learning and Skills Council is responsible for funding of the Train to Gain programme. Based on provisional and unaudited accounts, LSC expenditure on Train to Gain was 72 million in January 2009, 95 million in February 2009 and 91 million in March 2009. These figures will be confirmed when the LSC publish their accounts in July 2009. Figures for April and May 2009 are not yet available.
	Planned investment in Train to Gain for 2009-10 (financial year) is 925 million (LSC Grant Letter, November 2008). Planned investment for 2010-11 will be confirmed in autumn 2009, any expenditure beyond 2010-11 will subject to the outcome of the next spending review.

UK Trade and Investment: Finance

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much UK Trade and Investment has received from each of its funding streams in each year since 2003.

Ian Lucas: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) received the following amounts from each of its funding streams:
	
		
			  Outturn (000) 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09( 1) 
			 UKTI programme 96,614 99,405 95,374 94,088 90,167 90,815 
			 BIS administration 48,248 47,805 46,444 43,107 53,755 55,725 
			 FCO resource 143,843 138,462 142,578 161,361 170,348 182,843 
			  288,705 285,672 284,396 298,556 314,270 329,383 
			 (1) Provisional outturn 
		
	
	The responsibility for defence exports transferred from the Ministry of Defence under a Machinery of Government change on 1 April 2008 (a transfer of approximately 20 million).
	From 2006-07, as a result of enhancing their costing model, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) changed the basis of calculation of the total resource used by UKTI. The FCO resource figures for the period 2003-04 to 2005-06 are not available on a comparable basis to subsequent periods, and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

JUSTICE

Youth Justice Board : Manpower

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) staff and  (b) consultants employed by the Youth Justice Board in each financial year since 2003-04 had security clearance at (i) counter-terrorist check, (ii) baseline check, (iii) security check and (iv) developed vetting level.

Maria Eagle: The following table shows the numbers and level of security clearance that Youth Justice Board staff (including full and part-time permanent staff, seconded and temporary workers) and consultants (which includes consultants used by the YJB and contractors who work for the YJB) had during each of the requested years.
	
		
			   Employee Type  Baseline Check  Enhanced Baseline Check  Counter Terrorist Check  Security Clearance  Developed Vetting 
			 2003-04 Staff 42  56 2 0 
			 2003-04 Consultants 16  0 0 0 
			 2004-05 Staff 102  68 4 0 
			 2004-05 Consultants 41  0 0 0 
			 2005-06 Staff 122  71 6 0 
			 2005-06 Consultants 42  0 0 0 
			 2006-07 Staff 130 5 69 8 0 
			 2006-07 Consultants 58 0 0 0 0 
			 2007-08 Staff 100 68 84 9 0 
			 2007-08 Consultants 58 40 0 0 0 
			 2008-09 Staff 94 125 83 11 0 
			 2008-09 Consultants 57 64 0 0 0 
		
	
	In 2008-09 28 staff also had Disclosure Scotland clearance.
	Please note the figures for 2005-06 and 2006-07 are not fully verifiable so the figures provided are based on the best available data.

Absenteeism: Pupils

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many parents in  (a) Merseyside and  (b) Crosby have appeared in court on charges related to the unauthorised absence from school of their child in the last (i) six, (ii) 12 and (iii) 24 months.

Vernon Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department has policy responsibility for school attendance and the Ministry of Justice is responsible for the collection of prosecution data where parents have failed to ensure their children's regular school attendance. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 16 June,  Official Report, column 242W.

Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people under the age of 16 years have been issued with a penalty notice for disorder for each category of offence for which such notices are issued.

Jack Straw: PNDs for young persons under the age of 16 were piloted for a year from July 2005 in six police force areas (Merseyside, Lancashire, Essex, Nottingham, west midlands (including West Midlands British Transport Police) and the Metropolitan Police (Kingston Division)). The most recent published data on the number of PNDs issued, by area and offence from the pilots are set out in the following tables.
	The evaluation report on penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) for 10 to 15-year-olds was published on 5 November 2008. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.
	
		
			  Number of PNDs issued correctly by force and offence type (July 2005 to June 2006) 
			   Lancashire  Merseyside  Metropolitan police  Nottinghamshire 
			  40 penalty 
			 Wasting police time 23 11 0 2 
			 Improper use of electronic communication 4 5 0 2 
			 Knowingly giving false alarm to the fire brigade 4 1 0 0 
			 Causing harassment, alarm or distress 388 713 0 44 
			 Throwing fireworks 8 23 0 1 
			 Drunk and disorderly 144 113 0 3 
			 Selling alcohol to under 18s 3 0 0 0 
			 Buying alcohol for person under 18 0 1 0 1 
			 Purchasing alcohol for consumption in licensed premises 0 1 0 0 
			 Delivering alcohol to person under 18 or allowing such delivery 0 1 0 0 
			 Destroying or damaging property (under 500) 566 757 2 27 
			 Theft (retail under 200) 453 579 2 15 
			 Possession of a category 4 firework 1 1 0 0 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of an adult firework 1 8 0 3 
			  
			  30 penalty 
			 Trespassing on railways 4 6 0 0 
			 Throwing stones at a train 0 1 0 0 
			 Drunk in highway 18 34 0 0 
			 Drinking alcohol in designated public place 21 7 0 0 
			 Depositing and leaving litter 12 23 0 5 
			 Buying or attempting to buy alcohol by a persons under 18 2 11 0 0 
			  
			 Force total 1,652 2,296 4 103 
		
	
	
		
			   West midlands + BTP  Essex  All areas 
			  40 penalty
			 Wasting police time 13 0 49 
			 Improper use of electronic communication 2 1 14 
			 Knowingly giving false alarm to the fire brigade 3 0 8 
			 Causing harassment, alarm or distress 109 26 1,280 
			 Throwing fireworks 2 0 34 
			 Drunk and disorderly 11 4 275 
			 Selling alcohol to under 18s 0 0 3 
			 Buying alcohol for person under 18 2 0 4 
			 Purchasing alcohol for consumption in licensed premises 0 0 1 
			 Delivering alcohol to person under 18 or allowing such delivery 0 0 1 
			 Destroying or damaging property (under 500) 51 15 1,418 
			 Theft (retail under 200) 70 30 1,149 
			 Possession of a category 4 firework 0 0 2 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of an adult firework 0 0 12 
			 
			  30 penalty
			 Trespassing on railways 21 0 31 
			 Throwing stones at a train 4 0 5 
			 Drunk in highway 2 2 56 
			 Drinking alcohol in designated public place 0 0 28 
			 Depositing and leaving litter 11 0 51 
			 Buying or attempting to buy alcohol by a persons under 18 0 0 13 
			 
			 Force total 301 78 4,434

Asylum: Tribunals

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times a hearing at each asylum and immigration tribunal was adjourned for each reason for adjournment, in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: For the financial year 2008-09, 12,063 substantive Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) hearings were adjourned from a total of 126,541 substantive hearings. The following table details the reasons for each adjournment.
	The table includes a significant number of cases adjourned for a further reconsideration hearing. Once a reconsideration application has been granted, there is a first stage hearing to ascertain whether an error in law has occurred. If a material error of law is found, the case is officially 'adjourned', and there is a second stage hearing after which the AIT substitutes a fresh decision to allow or dismiss the appeal.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of adjournments at substantive hearing, by reason and case type for financial year 2008-09 
			  All AIT substantive hearings 
			   Case type  
			  Adjournment reason  Asylum  Immigration out of country ECO  Immigration in country MM  Visit visa  Deport appeal  Human rights etc.( 1)  Total 
			 Appellant sick 85 38 127 15 2 2 269 
			 Other reason given for Appellant's non attendance 48 50 71 67 1 3 240 
			 Non appearance by witness 56 123 81 161 1 3 425 
			 Appellant's documents missing 55 117 79 109 0 0 360 
			 Awaiting withdrawal confirmation from Appellant/Representative 3 6 6 0 0 0 15 
			 Appellant has been unable to find a Representative 19 8 25 2 0 0 54 
			 Appellant has not instructed a Representative 15 37 11 5 0 0 68 
			 Appellant requires all female/male court 2 0 2 0 0 0 4 
			 Appellant not brought from Detention Centre 5 0 67 0 1 0 73 
			 Non appearance by Presenting Officer 21 34 28 2 0 2 87 
			 Home Office have not complied with directions 89 124 80 94 0 3 390 
			 Home Office documents missing 121 453 122 251 1 6 954 
			 Defective removal notice 2 0 4 1 0 0 7 
			 Home Office reconsidering their decision 23 22 75 2 0 6 128 
			 Pending confirmation from Home Office of withdrawal by Appellant 0 4 7 1 0 0 12 
			 Transcript/tape n/a or distorted 10 4 7 0 0 0 21 
			 Home Office file/bundle not received 21 108 13 47 0 1 190 
			 Immigration Judge sick or fails to attend 8 15 5 30 0 0 58 
			 Immigration Judge not available 10 37 6 51 0 0 104 
			 Interpreter sick 3 0 0 2 0 0 5 
			 Other reason given for interpreter's non attendance 8 2 6 1 0 0 17 
			 AIT file missing or incomplete 1 14 7 9 0 0 31 
			 Wrong Interpreter requested by Representative/Appellant 23 6 9 2 0 1 41 
			 Interpreter not requested by Representative/Appellant 6 35 17 22 1 0 81 
			 Appellant objects to Interpreter's Religion/Nationality 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 
			 Inadequate interpreter 42 9 5 0 0 0 56 
			 Wrong/No interpreter booked 51 23 18 7 0 0 99 
			 No interpreter available in required language 27 19 6 10 0 0 62 
			 Lack of court time 146 66 101 70 0 2 385 
			 Notice of hearing incorrectly served or not served 22 80 27 156 0 2 287 
			 Directions not sent to Representative/Home Office 0 11 5 6 0 0 22 
			 Case not listed for the correct Immigration Judge 12 15 13 11 0 1 52 
			 Case suspended 6 21 13 0 0 0 40 
			 Needs a combined hearing 27 24 49 20 0 0 120 
			 List for legal/non panel hearing 36 1 3 0 0 0 40 
			 Reclassified 54 3 6 4 0 0 67 
			 Further reconsideration hearing rule 31(2) 935 569 784 103 0 43 2,434 
			 Court closed 49 110 89 136 0 1 385 
			 Case transferred follow instructions from Immigration Judge 11 21 30 20 0 0 82 
			 Representative Sick 73 60 57 43 0 1 234 
			 Representatives withdraw from case 17 7 16 4 0 0 44 
			 Representative/Counsel double booked in two courts 4 9 2 1 0 0 16 
			 Other reason for Representatives non attendance 38 95 47 49 1 0 230 
			 Representatives instructed late 47 43 52 16 0 2 160 
			 Representative need to supply medical report 133 113 66 3 2 3 320 
			 For further evidence to be supplied by Representative 377 582 454 150 0 10 1,573 
			 Representative has not complied with directions 75 36 60 6 1 1 179 
			 Representative has changed circumstances 11 9 12 5 0 0 37 
			 Other reasons for Representative needing more time 181 216 238 67 2 13 717 
			 New Home Office issue unexpectedly raised 110 224 228 37 3 2 604 
			 Document needs to be authenticated or translated 59 50 33 11 0 0 153 
			 Representative waiting decision on CLR funding 3 5 4 0 0 0 12 
			 Case transferred following request from Representative 3 6 2 5 0 0 16 
			 Total 3,185 3,664 3,276 1,814 16 108 12,063 
			 (1) Includes human rights, racial discrimination and deprivation of citizenship.

British Constitution

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the statement of 10 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 795-99, on constitutional renewal, what options for sanctions he plans to propose for hon. Members who breach the proposed statutory code of conduct.

Barbara Keeley: I have been asked to reply.
	Clause 9 of the Parliamentary Standards Bill as published creates new criminal offences relating to claims for allowances and Members' financial interests. The House will also retain its current disciplinary powers in relation to misconduct by Members.

Complaints

Betty Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make an assessment of the merits of amending the Data Protection Acts 1998 and 2002 to provide for the immediate deletion of records held by employers of complaints made by them against former employees in circumstances in which such complaints are withdrawn.

Michael Wills: All processing of personal data in the UK must be carried out in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). The fifth data protection principle in the DPA requires that personal data are not kept for longer than is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. This principle would apply to any personal data contained in complaints against former employees, including those that are later withdrawn. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is responsible for investigating and enforcing compliance with the DPA. Any concerns that a data controller is not complying with the Act may be referred to the ICO.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many awards the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority made to individuals with a criminal record in each year for which figures are available.

Jack Straw: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority does not maintain records for the number of awards made to individuals with a criminal record. However, the numbers of awards reduced (under Paragraphs 13 and 15 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS)) because of criminal convictions are as follows:
	
		
			   Number of awards reduced because of applicant's/deceased's criminal convictions  Total number of awards made under the CICS 
			 2004-05 1,399 35,352 
			 2005-06 1,487 33,697 
			 2006-07 1,500 31,407 
			 2007-08 1,862 39,091 
			 2008-09 1,958 36,461

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many awards the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority made to individuals injured while trying to prevent a crime or while helping a police officer catch a suspected criminal in each year for which figures are available; and what the monetary value of such awards was in each such year.

Jack Straw: This information is not recorded centrally by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. However, figures detailing the numbers of awards made (excluding those to police officers) where the applicant took an exceptional risk and was injured in attempting to apprehend an offender, and the total monetary value of these awards, are as follows:
	
		
			  Cases where applicant attempted to apprehend an offender( 1) 
			   Number  Value of cases () 
			 1996-97 76 143,923 
			 1997-98 242 449,532 
			 1998-99 260 589,658 
			 1999-2000 193 481,662 
			 2000-01 203 464,425 
			 2001-02 248 546,645 
			 2002-03 216 610,777 
			 2003-04 221 597,090 
			 2004-05 135 641,369 
			 2005-06 121 375,852 
			 2006-07 102 255,911 
			 2007-08 143 435,488 
			 2008-09 168 976,028 
			 (1 )Exceptional risk.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many awards the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority made in each year for which figures are available; and what the monetary value of those awards was in each such year.

Jack Straw: The numbers of awards made by CICA between 1996-97 and 2008-09, and the monetary value of those awards in each of these years, are given in the following table:
	
		
			   Total n umber of  a wards made under the CICS  Value of  c ases () 
			 1996-97 8379 19,103,717 
			 1997-98 31360 77,715,031 
			 1998-99 39991 110,199,398 
			 1999-00 39524 114,516,357 
			 2000-01 36759 110,504,614 
			 2001-02 39642 125,369,845 
			 2002-03 42149 156,193,338 
			 2003-04 41218 169,505,874 
			 2004-05 35352 163,822,052 
			 2005-06 33697 158,483,206 
			 2006-07 31407 161,032,977 
			 2007-08 39091 188,791,784 
			 2008-09 36461 231,435,833

Departmental Billing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 62W, on departmental billing, how much his Department's non-departmental public bodies paid in interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years.

Michael Wills: None of the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by the Ministry of Justice paid any interest to suppliers under the late Payment of Commercial Debt (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years, (from April 2006 through to March 2009). Although the Ministry of Justice was only formed in May 2007 the figures provided for the three-year period requested are correct, as any payments made under this Act must be disclosed in the audited annual report and accounts of each individual body. No such disclosures were made. Copies of these documents are held in the Library of the House of Commons.

Departmental Catering

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, column 76W, on departmental catering, what the level of subsidy for provision of food and drink to the Ministry of Justice headquarters estate was in financial year 2007-08.

Jack Straw: The subsidy for the provision of food and drink to the Ministry of Justice estate was 180,000 for the financial year 2007-08.

Departmental Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many officials in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have been (i) disciplined and (ii) dismissed for (A) breaches of data protection requirements and (B) inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last 12 months.

Jack Straw: Ministry of Justice (MO J) central records for the financial year 2008-09, show that no officials have been disciplined or dismissed for breaches of data protection requirements or inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data.

Departmental Data Protection

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many breaches of information security there have been at  (a) his Department and its predecessor and  (b) its agencies in the last five years.

Jack Straw: The total number of centrally recorded information security breaches/incidents occurring within the last five reporting years for the Department (created May 2007) and its predecessor (the Department for Constitutional Affairs) are as follows:
	
		
			  MOJ/DCA  Number 
			 2008-09 1,316 
			 2007-08 563 
			 2006-07 365 
			 2005-06 337 
			 2004-05 241 
		
	
	These totals include both IT and general information breaches/incidents. For the years prior to 2008-09, these figures include agencies and NDPBs, and to obtain a breakdown would involve disproportionate cost.
	Our records now enable us to break down the 2008-09 figure, which comprises 394 information breaches and 922 IT incidents. The 394 includes the following agency breakdown:
	
		
			   Number 
			 HMCS 34 
			 Tribunals Service 61 
			 Office of the Public Guardian 3 
			 NOMS 106 
		
	
	NOMS was formerly part of the Home Office, and figures for incidents prior to May 2007 are held by the Home Office.
	My Department and its agencies report all significant personal data security breaches to the Cabinet Office and the ICO. Information on personal data security breaches are published on an annual basis in the Department's annual resource accounts as was announced in the Data Handling Review published on 25 June 2008.
	Additionally, all significant control weaknesses including other significant security breaches are included in the Statement of Internal Control which is published within the annual resource accounts. Only two of the information incidents in 2008-09 were assessed to be significant and nine in 2007-08.
	Although, the last two reporting years has seen a 43 per cent. increase in reported information and IT security related breaches/incidents, much of this is the result of the implementation of a robust information assurance programme. This has included the need for all areas to apply procedures for reporting information security incidents, including the identification and investigation of the departure, however minor, from all security procedures. The result is an evidently improving information security management system.
	Where incidents involve the inadvertent disclosure of personal data these now include the requirement to involve managers and senior civil servants within an hour of any potential disclosure being identified. The circumstances surrounding each potential incident are investigated and where appropriate disciplinary action is taken.

Departmental Publications

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much it cost to produce each of his Department's publications in each of the last three years.

Jack Straw: The Ministry of Justice and its executive agencies produce a wide range of internal and external publications each year, including annual reports and consultation papers, public information material for the public and ministerial vision statements. External publications can be found on the Ministry's website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications.htm
	It is not possible to identify expenditure on all types of publications without incurring disproportionate cost as this would involve examination of a large number of transactions across a range of accounting categories. The following figures, though not comprehensive, reflect the majority of expenditure incurred by the Ministry and its executive agencies on external publications:
	
		
			
			  2008-09  
			 Ministry of Justice HQ 623,061 
			 HM Courts Service 95,491 
			 Tribunals Service 49,316 
			 Office of the Public Guardian 150,994 
			 The National Offender Management Service 30,331 
			 Total 949,193 
			   
			  2007-08  
			 Ministry of Justice HQ 457,954 
			 HM Courts Service 131,676 
			 Tribunals Service 53,100 
			 Office of the Public Guardian 307,650 
			 The National Offender Management Service 21,777 
			 Office of the Criminal Justice Reform 176,311 
			 Total 1,148,469 
		
	
	The Ministry's predecessor Department, the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), which excluded the National Offender Management Service and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, incurred the following expenditure on publications:
	
		
			
			  2006-07  
			 DCA HQ 837,544 
			 HM Courts Service 161,260 
			 Tribunals Service 125,554 
			 Office of the Public Guardian 67,576 
			   
			 Total 1,191,934 
		
	
	The Ministry has a contract with TSO to supply the Department with a large proportion of external publications. The figures quoted above for the Ministry of Justice HQ, HM Courts Service and Tribunals Service figures represent expenditure with TSO only. The Ministry's publications via TSO can be found at:
	http://www.tso.co.uk/about/whoAreWe/
	The figures provided for the National Offender Management Service (including HM Prison Service and the 42 local probation boards) include publication expenditure for their business plans, annual reports and annual accounts only. To collate the expenditure for all NOMS agency publications would incur disproportionate cost.
	The Office of the Public Guardian figures include both in-house and TSO expenditure.

EU Law

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the proportion of statutory obligations provided for by legislation on matters for which his Department is responsible which were introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jack Straw: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only by manually examining each piece of legislation the Ministry of Justice has introduced at a disproportionate cost. On the basis of the information provided by MoJ policy experts, it appears that of the 280 statutory instruments laid by the MoJ since its creation in May 2007, two of these were partially concerned with meeting obligations arising from EU legislation.

Land Titles

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether there is a  (a) statutory or  (b) other limit on the amount of time made available for the Lord Chancellor to defend land title guarantees at tribunal.

Bridget Prentice: The Lord Chancellor is not required to defend land title guarantees in proceedings before the adjudicator to HM Land Registry.

Legal Aid

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent from the public purse on legal aid for judicial review cases in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: Legal aid cash expenditure for judicial review cases in each of the past five years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Judicial review cases expenditure 
			  Financial year  Expenditure ( million) 
			 2004-05 12.7 
			 2005-06 12.5 
			 2006-07 11.5 
			 2007-08 13.7 
			 2008-09 14.9

Legal Aid

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether there are limits on the amount an expert witness may charge in legal aid cases.

Bridget Prentice: In Crown court cases, discretionary guideline rates apply to specified types of expert witness. There are no fees set for other types of expert witnesses in criminal cases or for any expert in civil cases. These are assessed against knowledge of local market rates on a case by case basis. Providers are required to obtain at least two quotes and choose the best option in terms of the service they provide and the fees charged.
	The recent Civil Bid Rounds for 2010 Contracts consultation and the Family Legal Aid Funding from 2010 consultation included proposals to control spending on experts' fees by removing experts' cancellation fees and administration costs from the scope of public funding and capping the pay rates for experts' travel and waiting time.
	The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is currently finalising the official consultation response on the Civil Bid Rounds for 2010 Contracts consultation which will set out the final proposals regarding experts' fees. It is currently due to be published by the end of June and will apply to all civil publicly funded cases.

Legal Services Commission: Expenditure

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much expenditure the Legal Services Commission has incurred on expert witnesses in  (a) family law cases and  (b) criminal law cases funded through legal aid in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) does not record separately the amounts paid to expert witnesses from funds granted by the LSC. Payments to expert witnesses form part of the overall disbursement paid to legal services providers.

Magistrates Courts

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average time taken between charge and trial of a defendant tried in a magistrates court has been in each year since 2000.

Bridget Prentice: Table 1 shows the estimated average time from charge/laying of information to start of trial in the magistrates courts for England and Wales in all criminal cases since 2001. Table 2 below shows the estimated average time from charge to start of trial for charge cases only. Results for 2000 have not been supplied, due to differences in data collection methods and business rules.
	
		
			  Table 1, charge and summons cases, estimated number of days in all criminal cases between charge/laying of information and start of trial for defendants in England and Wales, 2001 to 2009 
			   Estimated time from charge/laying of information to start of trial (days)  Margin of error (+/- number of days)  Number of defendants in the sample 
			 2001 69 1 13,983 
			 2002 65 1 19,888 
			 2003 67 1 21,479 
			 2004 72 1 20,228 
			 2005 70 1 20,657 
			 2006 74 1 19,283 
			 2007 73 1 18,583 
			 2008 70 1 16,853 
			 2009 65 2 9,504 
			  Notes:  1. Results taken from time intervals survey, a quarterly, one week survey, primarily used to measure timeliness in the magistrates courts 2. Two surveys (March and September) have been used for each year, except for 2009 where only March is available 3. Results shown for cases in which start of trial date is provided 4. Results include trials in which a defendant pleads not guilty and is tried summarily in absence 5. Results for 2000 have not been supplied, due to differences in data collection methods and business rules 6. The margin of error is a precision of a result based on a sample survey. The true value is likely to fall within the range of the sample result +/- the margin of error 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2, charged cases only estimated number of days for charged cases only between charge and start of trial for defendants in England and Wales, 2001 to 2009 
			   Estimated time from charge/laying of information to start of trial (days)  Margin of error (+/- number of days)  Number of defendants in the sample 
			 2001 105 3 4,347 
			 2002 103 3 5,196 
			 2003 111 2 5,765 
			 2004 123 3 5,880 
			 2005 125 3 5,858 
			 2006 126 3 5,854 
			 2007 120 3 5,411 
			 2008 102 3 5,050 
			 2009 103 8 1,321 
			  Notes: 1. Results taken from time intervals survey, a quarterly, one week survey, primarily used to measure timeliness in the magistrates courts 2. Four surveys (March, June, September and December) have been used for each year, except for 2009 where only March is available 3. Results shown for cases in which start of trial date is provided 4. Results include trials in which a defendant pleads not guilty and is tried summarily in absence 5. Results for 2000 have not been supplied, due to differences in data collection methods and business rules 6. The margin of error is a precision of a result based on a sample survey. The true value is likely to fall within the range of the sample result +/- the margin of error

Parliamentary Standards Authority

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals are to be appointed to the Parliamentary Standards Authority; by what process the appointments will be made; what criteria for appointment will apply; whether there is to be provision for their remuneration; and for what period such appointments would be made.

Barbara Keeley: I have been asked to reply.
	The proposed arrangements for appointment and remuneration of members of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority are set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Parliamentary Standards Bill [Bill 121] as published.

Parliamentary Standards Authority

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the likely  (a) establishment and  (b) running costs of the proposed new Parliamentary Standards Authority (PSA); and whether the PSA will be a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Barbara Keeley: I have been asked to reply.
	Cross-party discussions on the form of the new authority are ongoing. The Government's proposal on the classification of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act is published in the Parliamentary Standards Bill.

Probation Officers: Manpower

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many trainee probation officers are expected to complete training in 2009.

Jack Straw: The number expected to complete their training in 2009 is 513. It is too soon to give an accurate picture of the number of TPO graduates who will be offered jobs. All probation areas are looking closely at their budgets and work force needs to ensure as many trainees as possible are offered employment.

Probation Officers: Manpower

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of trainee probation officers who will not be offered employment in each region in 2009.

Jack Straw: A recent survey of the 42 probation areas, who are the employers, has shown that it is too soon to be certain how many of these graduates will be offered jobs in the Probation Service. The regional Directors of Offender Management have been asked to review the position of their local probation boards and trusts to ensure that decisions about TPO employment are based on credible workforce plans that take full account of the staffing requirements of the next three years within the region and elsewhere in the country.

Reoffenders

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish the feasibility studies carried out by his Department on quantifying re-offending rates among former prisoners of each prison in England and Wales.

Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice is currently undertaking a feasibility study to investigate this issue. This study aims to determine whether meaningful data on the reoffending of former prisoners from individual institutions can be produced. We aim to complete this work by the end of the financial year 2009-10. Once this work has been completed, it will need to go through the normal analytical quality assurance process to determine how this could be suitably published.

Victim Support Schemes

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1442W, on Victim Support Schemes, 
	(1)  how many of the organisations he wrote to have successfully applied for funding for 2009-10;
	(2)  how many organisations which had not previously received funding from his Department applied for funding for 2009-10; and how many such applications have been approved by his Department.

Jack Straw: The 2008-09 grants from the Victims Fund for organisations supporting victims of sexual violence have been renewed for this financial year (2009-10). All 39 organisations that we wrote to about the grant renewal process received a grant for this year.
	Organisations that had not received previous funding were eligible to apply to the Victims Fund homicide round. 18 applications were received and of these 12 had not received previous funding from the Victims Fund. This is now closed and grant awards will be made shortly by the Home Office.
	The Home Office has launched the hate crime section of the Victims Fund for the financial year 2009-10. This round is currently open for applications and organisations that have not received previous funding are eligible to apply.

Victim Support Schemes: Finance

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1442W, on victim support schemes, how many organisations that he wrote to have applied for funding from his Department for 2009-10; and when he expects funding to be awarded to successful applicants;
	(2)  whether organisations which had not previously received funding from his Department were able to apply for funding for 2009-10; and when he expects funding to be awarded to successful applicants.

Jack Straw: The 2008-9 grants from the Victims Fund for organisations supporting victims of sexual violence have been renewed for this financial year. All the 39 organisations that we wrote to about the grant renewal process received a grant for this year.
	Organisations that have not received previous funding were eligible to apply to the Victims Fund homicide round. This is now closed and grant awards will be made shortly by the Home Office. The Victims Fund hate crime will be made shortly by the Home Office. The Victims Fund hate crime round is currently open for applications and organisations that have not received previous funding are eligible to apply.